Kill Him Twice
by Logical-Lust
Summary: After a four year mission Sakura returns to Konoha a strong beautiful woman.Noticing the transformation she went through, Sasuke begins to acknowledge his attraction to her. But will her past from the mission ruin everything? SasuSaku! Plz R&R!COMPLETE!
1. Reactions

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. (pout)**

**(A/N) I read over the story and fixed all the errors I missed when I posted it the first time. Enjoy!!**

**Chapter 1: Reactions**

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Sakura looked up at the tall gates. _Wow, _she thought. _I'm really back._

She stepped through the gates and felt a since of welcome at her return to the village. It seemed like a lifetime since Sakura left to go on her first long-term mission. A mission that was said to take our to five to seven years due to the fact that they didn't know who the enemy was and when they would attack. Even so, Sakura completed it in four years.

Sakura was in a rush to get back because she knew that all her reports she sent to the Hokage over the past two and a half months never reached her. And knowing Tsunade-sama she's probably worrying about her favorite pink-haired apprentice and found comfort and reassurance in her sake bottle.

She spent no time waltzing around the village, admiring how much it has **not **changed over the past four years. Instead she sped through towards the Hokage's office. Sakura was excited to see her sensei after so long, though mildly afraid that she would get the full wrath of the ill-tempered kunoichi. This was something that she expected and was prepared for, planning to just nod her head and keep apologizing over again like a broken record . . .Now if she decided to get physical . . .Well, Sakura was trying not to think about that. Its not like she couldn't take her on, its just Sakura has enough respect not to punch the Hokage. (Though she would have her exceptions when Naruto became Hokage.)

When Sakura got there, she couldn't help but feel nervous. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath in before walking through the front doors.

_Oh God_, she thought, walking through the empty corridors towards the Hokage's office.

_Please give Tsunade-sama the slightest bit of mercy towards me and not decide to beat me black and . . ._

"Ow!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I couldn't see through all the papers. I didn't mean to bump into you."

A dark haired woman was bent over picking up all the papers she had dropped, not even bothering to look at the person she collided with.

"Ah, thank you." She said kindly when Sakura gave her the rest of the papers from the floor. Then she finally looked up.

"Sakura!" Shizune said happily but then frowned. "Sakura, what happened? Why haven't you contacted us for the past two and a half months? Tsunade-sama has been worried sick about you, along with half the village. Some people even think your dead!"

"I'm not dead Shizune and I have been sending each and every one of my reports, but I just found out that they weren't getting here only a few days ago."

Shizune looked at her sympathetically, "Mmm. Well good luck Sakura. You'll need it when you see her. You have no idea what you've put her through."

"Thanks for your reassuring words Shizune." She said sarcastically. "Right, well. It was nice seeing you again. Take care."

"Yeah, It was good seeing you too again Sakura." She said before turning to leave.

"Bye."

_Well, she made me feel a whole_ _lot . . . worse._

_**You should have smacked the bitch in the face and told her to shut the hell up! Cha!**_

Sakura rolled her eyes and kept walking until she was right outside the Hokage's office and knocked.

"Come in." A harsh voice answered.

_Oh no. Her words are slurred. She's drunk!_

_**Girl, run now while everyone still thinks your dead damnit!**_

Sakura took a deep breath, opened the door and shut it behind her.

"What do you want?" Tsunade hiccupped, not even looking up to see who entered the room.

"Tsunade-sensei? It's me, Sakura."

Tsunade looked up wide-eyed at the sound of Sakura's voice. There was a flick of a smile before the woman's face became distorted with anger. She stood up and punched the top of her desk splitting t in half. This made Sakura step back a few feet.

"What the hell happened to you? No reports for almost three months, not even an ounce of communication to let us know you're safe. To let us know that your even alive!"

"Tsunade-sensei, please calm down and let me explain. Please." Sakura pleaded.

"You have five minutes. Go." She said thickly.

"First of all I must tell you that I have completed my mission successfully. And secondly I have been sending you weekly reports but I only found out a few days ago that they haven't been getting to you for almost three months now. Tsunade-sensei, I didn't mean to worry you or anyone else and I would be happy to rewrite those reports over the past two and a half months to inform you on the conclusion of my mission."

She took Sakura's words into careful consideration.

"I want all ten weekly reports on my desk by Monday."

"Hai." Sakura answered, trying not to smile as big as she wanted to.

Tsunade sat down at her broken desk. "Hmm. I should get this fixed." She said to herself before turning to Sakura who had felt it to be safe to sit now too.

"Well how long has it been? Four years?" Tsunade asked while propping her feet on what was left of her desk.

"Four years, five months, and five-teen days to be exact. But who's counting?" Sakura answered, looking down at her lap trying to hide her reddening cheeks. There was a long pause after that which gave Tsunade the chance to properly examine the kunoichi sitting in front her. Then Sakura heard her sigh.

"Its amazing how people can change so drastically in a few years. My God Sakura, you left here a board straight, curvless little girl. And now . . . Now you're too damn beautiful for your own good. You filled out nicely Haruno!"

_**Who the hell is she calling a board straight, curvless little girl, bitch?**_

"Um. Thank you. I guess. But I don't think I've changed that much. I just grew my hair back out, and yeah, I do have a much more . . . matured body, but It's not that big of a deal."

Actually, Sakura knew just how much her body has changed since she left. At the beginning of her mission, men barley even looked at her thinking she was "too young." Now, she couldn't walk down the street without guys drooling over her. Sakura smiled at this thought. She was being modest.

"Hm, I think I would give just about anything to see your friend's reactions when they see you. Especially Naruto. Poor kid would probably pass out."

"You wanna make a bet on that sensei?" Sakura answered slyly with a grin.

"Twenty bucks says that when he sees you, he'll pass out with excitement. What about you?"

"I say he's just gonna stare for a few moments, look me up and down like a pervert, then say 'Sakura, your back' way too loudly."

"Ha, very detailed Haruno. Deal."

They shook hands, both with mischievous grins on their face.

"And if he doesn't do one thing you said, then I win, got that?"

"Got it."

"Good. Now go. I have a lot of paper work to do and I need to get someone to get me a new desk."

Sakura stood up and waved, "Good-buy Tsunade-sensei, it was nice seeing you again."

"Don't forget our bet . . . Oh and Sakura," Sakura turned around to face her. "I'm glad you came back safely."

Sakura gave her sensei a warming smile that told her she was glad to be back too.

When Sakura left, she decided to go back to her neglected apartment before she went to go search for her yellow-haired friend.

As she entered her home, she noticed that nothing had changed. Everything was exactly as she left it, except for the inches of dust and spider webs. She sighed deeply then threw her traveling bags and weapons on the side of her bed before falling down into her fluffy red and black comforter. She just laid there for awhile before deciding she should cleaned up before going out. Plus, she had to look her best if she wanted to get the reaction she wanted out of Naruto.

Sakura took a long, hot shower, brushed her hair and let it air-dry, (this giving it a wavy, volumized look that made her look older.), then slipped into her red, sleeveless v-cut tank-top that had the Haruno emblem on the back, small black shorts and her usual black boots that came up to her knees. Looking in a full-length mirror before she left, she decided not to put any make-up on. Less was certainly more for her.

When Sakura left a wave of excitement seemed to wash over her at the thought of finally seeing her friends again. Naruto, Lee, Pig, Kakashi-sensei, TenTen, Shikamaru, Hinata, and yes, even Sasuke. She wondered if any of them has changed as much as herself. This was a question that had been burning her mind all day. Her curiosity was killing her.

Too deep in her own thoughts, Sakura's hadn't noticed she had already gotten to the crossroad_. Now . . .where to find Naruto?_

"Hm. He could only be at two places. Ichiraku or the training grounds? Which one first?"

_Stupid question_, she thought. She was heading for Ichiraku.

Sakura's heart was pounding against her chest. He was right there, right in front of her. Of course he was too busy stuffing his face to notice she was just across the street watching him. And of course, who's with him? None other than the last remaining Uchiha himself, watching his friend in disgust. He must have felt someone watching them because he turned around to look.

When Sasuke caught sight of Sakura, the usually stoic Uchiha went wide-eyes, not saying a word, (and Sakura took notice that he probably wasn't breathing either, for his face turned blue after a while.) Sakura gave him a small smile and waved.

_Wow, I really wasn't expecting to get such a reaction out of the emotionless wonder! _she thought while she walked towards the stand.

Naruto took a chance to look up from his ramen bowl at Sasuke and was confused by his friends' facial expression.

"What the hell's the matter with you?" He bellowed loudly. Then he caught on that Sasuke was staring at something . . .or someone.

He turned around quickly with a frown on his face to see what could have driven his rather reaction-less friend to such a state. Naruto turned around to find himself face to face with a beautiful pink-haired, emerald-eyed woman walking towards them. This sight took his breath away. He didn't even really notice she had wrapped her small, toned arms around his neck in a tight embrace.

"Oh Naruto, I've missed you sooo much!" squeezing him tighter as she said 'so'. She released him once she thought he needed a breath.

Naruto was now staring at her with wide, glistening eyes, unconsciously looked her up and down without even realizing it, Sakura noticed it but decided to let it slide . . .this time. She smiled at him.

"Sakura, you . . .your back! When did you . . . ?" But then passed out before he could finish his question.

_Damnit, now neither one of us are going to win. Man is this guy predictable._ Sakura thought while stepping over Naruto's unconscious body to give Sasuke a hug.

"To finish dobe's question, when did you get back?" He said monotonously.

"About four hours ago. I just got back from visiting Tsunade-sama, decided to wash up a little then come here to see who I could find."

"You do know Sakura that some people thought you were dead. Almost everyday someone has come up to ask me if I have heard anything from you. I haven't gotten any letters from you for the past couple of months. It's been quite annoying really" he mumbled tediously.

"Ugh. Well I'm sorry if other people's concern for me got on your nerves Sasuke. They'll all stop bothering you now because I'm back," she said flatly, sitting on the stool Naruto previously occupied.

"It wasn't the people's concern for you that annoyed me Sakura, I would be lying if I said I wasn't concerned for you myself. But it was Naruto. He's been annoying the hell out everybody." He looked down at his friend on the floor, shook his head, then looked back at Sakura.

"He hasn't changed much since you left. Yeah, he's gotten taller, deeper voice, and is now probably more perverted than both Jiraya and Kakashi combined. But he's still the annoying knucklehead dobe you left behind."

Sakura smiled, "I wouldn't want him any other way." she looked down at Naruto for a moment thinking about what Sasuke said.

"So. Jiraya and Kakashi combined? He's gotten that bad?" she asked with a smirk.

"Hn. Unfortunately."

"Wow. I think I just had the best dream of my life!" Naruto mumbled with his eyes closed. "Mmm. Sakura. She filled out over the four years. Hehe. If she looked that good with clothes on, I wonder what she would look like . . . .Ahhhh!"

Sakura, now ten shades of red and shaking with anger, had pinned the now very awake Naruto against the wall by his throat a good foot above the floor.

"Do you really want to finish that sentence Naruto?" her voice was shaking with anger.

Naruto, kicking and trying to pry away the very irate kunoichi's hand from her throat went wide-eyed and shook his head vigorously.

"I thought so. Now, since its my first day back, I'm gonna give you a break and let it slide. This time. But next time." squeezing even harder. "I won't hold back. Got it?" she said, letting him fall back to the floor.

_Wow. Not only has she gotten drop dead gorgeous, she's gotten faster and stronger too. She's much more irritable than I remember her to be though. Maybe it's just that time of the month_. Naruto thought as he caught his breath and watched her walk away.

"I'm going to Ino's shop if you need me. And hey, I'm going to the bar tonight. I'm looking forward to seeing you guys there."

Sakura waved, not even looking back and walked out.

_**Hell yeah! Did you see Sasuke's face when he saw you? Poor guy couldn't even breathe.**_

* * *

You'll learn more about Sakura's mission in later chapters.

(A/N) Ok, even though the fic is complete it doesn't mean I don't like getting those random little reviews…. They make me happy. You don't have to review for only the last chap!!

**Next chapter: Reveled Addictions**

Please read and review!! But don't be too harsh, this is my first fanfic.


	2. Revealed Addictions

**Disclaimer: Nop, I don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 2: Reveled Addictions**

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Later that night . . . . .

"Well anyway. After we left the bar, the woman couldn't keep her hands off me for a second. So I decided to take her in the ally down the street and do her there. Mmm, that was nice. First we . . ."

"Genma. You know how much I love hearing about your lovely one-night stand's and all, but please, spare me the details." Kakashi said flatly from behind his little orange book.

"Oh, come on Kakashi. We both know your not getting any, so why not live vicariously through me? I mean really, I've gotten more in the past week than you have in the pa . . . "

Kakashi didn't mind at all that Genma had stopped rambling and kept behind his book. But once he heard the sound of metal hitting the table, he became curious. The Copy-nin looked over his book to find Genma staring at something over his shoulder. Kakashi knew already he was staring at a woman, but in all the years he's known Genma, he's never seen him become so overcome as to let his senbon drop from his mouth. But this wasn't the only thing off. The man was blushing for heavens sake!

Kakashi turned around to see who it was that made Genma blush. He was in no way prepared for what he turned to.

There was a woman,(probably a kunoichi by the looks of her toned arms and legs), that seemed to be about twenty-one or twenty-two, somewhere around there, Kakashi thought. She had small black shorts on that hugged her curves in all the right places, giving everyone a great view of what she defiantly has. A small waist that could mirror an hourglass, and two very round and full breasts that seemed to complement the rest of her body perfectly.

But it was when the kunoichi turned around to face him, did she really take his breath away. She had a creamy complection (which was flawless by the way), plump pink lips, deep emerald eyes, and pink wavy hair that settled beautifully to her mid-back.

The radiant kunoichi's eyes seemed to lighten up at the sight of Kakashi and walked over to him. She bent down to give him a hug (which gave Genma an exceptional view of her cleavage.)

"I've missed you Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said happily, then pulled away suddenly, taking a seat at the end of the table. "Sorry Kakashi-sensei, I know how much you hate people touching you, but I'm just so happy to finally be back!"

Giving her one of his famous eye-creases, he waved his hand dismissively, "No Sakura your fine. I'm also glad to see you back in Konoha safely."

Sakura smiled, then turned to Genma, "Hello Genma. Nice to see you again."

"Well it's good to see you too Sakura. You look great by the way. You really have filled out since the last time I've laid eyes on that plump little ass of yours, which by the way I'm hoping to see without-"

"I strongly advise you to stop while your still ahead Genma. Not unless you want your balls cut off."

Sakura turned around to find both Naruto and Sasuke walking towards their table. Naruto had a vicious smirk on his face as he sat next to Kakashi and Sasuke took the seat next to Genma, much to his dismay.

"Take my advice from experience. You don't want to finish what you were saying. She almost strangled me to death earlier today. She's much faster and stronger now. And between you and me, way more irritable." he said that last part behind his hand in a pretend whisper that was still meant to be heard by Sakura.

"Don't push it Naruto." she said flatly. "And you," pointing at Genma. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but if you think you can talk to me like i'm one of your little whore's, then you've got another thing comin'. So next time you start to think out loud again, I'm gonna take Naruto's advice and neuter you like the dog you are!"

All the men at the table had different reactions to Sakura's little speech. Kakashi's face was behind his book hiding his smirk and raised eye-brows, Sasuke just looked uninterested about the whole thing, Naruto was snickering, and Genma was twisting his senbon between his lips with one hand and covering his . . . ."precious package" with the other hand, but still looked completely calm nonetheless.

"I have no doubt in my mind, Sakura, that you will surely not hesitate to go through with your threat. So I apologize for what I said and next time i'll try to keep my thoughts to myself."

"I accept your apology." Sakura mumbled, trying her hardest to keep her temper in control.

They were there for a good hour, drinking and telling stories about their missions and filling Sakura in on everyone and what's changed since she's been gone. All of them were now very drunk and having a good time (yes, even Sasuke and Kakashi.) Sakura got up and stumbled out of her seat to go to the little kunoichi's room.

Genma watched from behind with a dark grin on his face.

"You better put your eye-balls back in your head Genma before I cut them out myself." Naruto growled, having been watching Genma the whole time and knowing exactly what was going through his head.

"Hm. Come on Naruto. You can't seriously say that you haven't thought about taking our sweet little Cherry Blossom by those curvy hips of her's, turn her around, bend her over the table and fuck her 'till she screams your. . . ."

Genma abruptly stopped in mid-sentence by a fist punching the side of his head. . . .Hard. He fell to the floor on all hands and knees blinded by the pain. Who the hell had punched him?

"I will kill you the next time you ever talk about Sakura in such a way." A voice said with strong killing intent.

It was Sasuke.

"Well you came close to it this time, damnit!" Genma said while trying to balance himself to stand up. He began rubbing the already black knot on his right temple.

Naruto was also out of his seat ready to lung at Genma. But the truth was, that that thought had crossed his mind once or twice. Even Sasuke thought up something similar, but neither one of them was about to admit, nor let a pervert like Genma say it out loud.

Kakashi was still as cool and collected as ever, though inside he felt a raising anger burn in his chest. This was the last thing he wanted to hear. This was the little pink-haired, bubbly, Sasuke-obsessed kunoichi that was always like a daughter figure to him that he was talking about. He only began to calm down when he heard someone's fist connect with Genma's head. He smiled when he saw his friend on the floor, eyes distorted with pain, and a large red knot on his temple.

"Damn. What are you two, her body guards or something?" Genma cried out with a mixture of anger and pain, while taking Sakura's empty seat, not wanting to be next to Sasuke anymore.

"I don't need body guards Genma. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself." Sakura said, walking up to the table.

Now standing in between Sasuke and Genma, she put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and turned to her friends.

"I think I'm going to turn in for the night. I have ten reports that need to be finished by Monday. It's going to be a long weekend ahead of me." she squeezed Sasuke's shoulder before letting go and starting to walk away.

She turned back around when she was halfway to the door, as if she forgot something.

"Oh and Genma. Just to let you know, the mere thought of your little fantasy you dreamt up is absolutely repulsive. There is no way in hell you could ever even touch me, let alone . . what was it? 'fuck me 'till I scream your name?' That's just ridiculous. So I strongly advise you to cut the bull shit, cause it's never going to happen."

This time, everyone at the table had the exact same reaction. Jaw dropped to their chest, eyes wide, and the same thought running through their mind.

_She heard him and he's still alive?_

Genma was ten shades of red and wasn't breathing for fear that if he moved a muscle, she would defiantly kill him.

Her eyes softened when she turned to Sasuke and gave him a tender smile, "Thank you." He nodded his head in reassurance that he heard her and that he was only too happy to oblige.

Sakura waved at the others before walking out into the cool summer's night, taking in every smell and sound drifting with the light breeze. This was one of the things she missed most. Konoha nights. Nothing seemed more relaxing to her than the cool wind following it's own path through the village, carrying the soothing sound of wind-chime's that are persuaded so effortlessly to give music to the silent, enduring night.

Sure, the village where Sakura had been for the past four years was extremely quiet and peaceful, but it wasn't home. It wasn't Konoha. While there, she realized how much she took the simple things for granted. Like her normal ninja attire, (having to wear a yukata at the other village to blend in.), she never thought she would be so happy to wear that ugly green jounin vest, but she was now. And now, what seemed like everyday annoying habits that her friend's have, she seemed to miss the most. Like Naruto being loud and obnoxious and always either talking about how he's going to become Hokage or ramen. Or both. And Sasuke, always answering in his lengthy vocabulary of "Hn." Or even Kakashi and his precious little porn novels that he reads in public when he gets bored. These are the thing's Sakura missed the most. Her friends' imperfections made them who they are and what she had grow to love and had missed when absent.

Sakura had even tried to find a substitute for each of them, but not one person was as obnoxious as Naruto, perverted as Kakashi, or as stoic as Sasuke. Though she did, eventually, find a way to ease the longing she had for the three men. Not all the way, but lust enough to get her through the day. In a fit of deep depression, Sakura plucked up enough courage to buy Kakashi's favorite book. Icha Icha Paradise. This made her feel somewhat closer to them in her own twisted way. But what she had not expected was to actually _like_ the book! She finished the first volume in a couple days with great satisfaction and a need for more. Eventually, she became addicted and bought the whole series.

Now, it didn't matter how much she loved these well written little novels, she would never admit to _anyone_that she read them, let alone was notably addicted to them.

_Dear God, _she thought while towards the Hokage Mountains. _What would people think if they found out I read porn religiously? Well, at least I don't read them in public like Kakashi does._

She put a hand in her pouch and took out a small blue book that read Icha Icha Passion.

_At least I'm not in front of people._

Sakura glanced around her, checking if there was anyone in sight. No one. She felt no chakra signatures either. Feeling it was fine doing so, she opened the book, flipped through the pages until she found the place she left off at, had it in one hand, stuffing the other deep in her pocket, and began climbing the stairs to the top of the cliff.

Sakura's attention was on her book one hundred percent and hadn't noticed the familiar chakra signature approaching her at top speed. She hadn't gotten the whole 'I'm totally sucked into my book, but still completely aware of my surroundings' thing down yet like her ex sensei.

"You know, you look just like Kakashi, Sakura. He is also reading the new volume." said an amused voice above her.

The voice startled her and hid the book behind her back, knowing it was a useless jester, seeing how he already saw it already. Sakura knew who it was standing a few steps above her, but didn't dare look at him, in fear that if she did she would get even more flushed and light headed with embarrassment, if it was even possible.

_Damn, I was at a really good part too, _she thought

"So, if you're reading the last one, does that mean you've read the one's before this one?" Sasuke asked in a deep, curious voice.

Now putting the book back in her pouch, she began to move forward, past Sasuke still not looking at him.

"I don't think that's any of your business Sasuke." she answered in as strong of a voice as she could manage under the circumstances.

"So you have."

". . ."

"Hn. I would have never expected you to even pick up one of those books. What was it you said that one time? 'I would never touch one of those filthy books. They have no intellect whatsoever. It's just graphic porn for lonely men who can't get any real action themselves.'"

"Haha. Did I say that? No, it must have been someone else for I would have been contradicting myself if I had." Sakura admitted, blushing and rubbing the back of her neck.

"Unless I know another annoying, pink-haired, green-eyed kunoichi, then I'm positive it was you." he said in his monotone voice.

"Hmph. Well then call me a hypocrit-"

"Hypocrite."

"That was a rhetorical statement Sasuke."

"Yes, I know." he answered with a smirk, knowing he was getting under her skin.

They climbed the stairs in silence. Sasuke couldn't believe that Sakura, _his_ Sakura, reads porn!_ It's not like its bad or anything, it's just unexpected, _Sasuke thought. _If anything, it's a turn on. . . .No! Sakura is just a friend. She's over me now. We are just team mates and that's how it's going to stay!_

"Sasuke, are you okay? You're glaring more than usual."

Sasuke blinked and came out of his thoughts, regaining his composure.

"I'm fine. I was just thinking."

Sakura's eyebrow rose, "About what?"

"Hn."

Sakura rolled her eye's, "Whatever."

When they reached the top, Sakura moved forward to the bench under a cherry blossom tree that looked over the entire village. She sat down, took in the view for a few seconds, then closed her eyes with a deep sigh. Saskue stood beside the bench watching her, knowing he shouldn't interrupt. She stayed like this for awhile before opening her eyes and staring at the village. Saskue thought he could see the longing and pain in Sakura's eyes. Then only seconds later, his speculations were proven. Slowly but surely tears began to run down Sakura's face onto her lap. Sasuke didn't know whether to go over and comfort her or to leave her to her thoughts. Well, he wasn't so good with the whole emotions thing and he wasn't invited to come up here with her, so he turned to leave.

"Please. Don't leave. I've been alone for too long. I don't want to be alone now." Sakura said in a small but determined voice. Then looking up at him, "If you don't mind."

"Hn." Sasuke mumbled before sitting on the bench beside her.

There was a long silence before Sakura began to speak, still looking out at the village.

"This has always been my favorite spot in all of Konoha. I would always come here whenever I felt lonely. I came here as a child, when everyone would make fun of my forehead, then as I got older whenever you would reject me, or when we would get back from a mission and I would feel like such a burden to Team 7. I came here when you left. I came here when Naruto left. And now i'm here now." she said quietly then gave a hollow sigh.

_She's changed so much. This isn't the annoying Sakura I used to know._

"Are you alright Sakura?" he said strangely, not used to asking such a question.

She gave a weary smile before looking him in the eye, "I am now. Thank you Sasuke, for staying with me."

"Hn. You sure you're okay?" he asked, knowing that she was lying. He hated being lied to.

"I'm fine. I've just been a little homesick. Now that I'm back home, I'll be okay. My emotions got the best of me I guess. And honestly, you were the last person I wanted to see them." she said, standing up and wiping her tear stained face. "Well I think I should get home."

"I'll walk you."

"Okay."

They headed back down to the village, not saying a word the whole time, yet were both in an extremely comfortable with the friendly silence. Sasuke, hands deep in pockets and Sakura, looking up at the stars deep in thought.

When they finally reached Sakura's apartment, Sasuke stood and faced Sakura. "Do you have anything planed for tomorrow morning?"

"No, not until the evening. Ino's throwing me a surprise welcome home party. Don't tell her I know. Why?"

"Kakashi wants us to meet him at the old training grounds at eight o'clock. He said he wants to see how much we've all improved since the last time he had all for us together."

"Oh, no. I'm not coming. He's going to give us that bell test. He's gonna put us through hell so he can get a good laugh in. No. Hell no! I refuse." she finished, crossing her arms and looking away like a child.

Sasuke sighed, "So annoying." he said under his breath. "Were stronger than the last time we took the test together. Most likely, we've all surpassed him and it'll take nothing to get the bell from him."

Sakura glared at him intently through narrow eyes looking for any sign of a lie in his words. She found none. That was a gift she had now, watching people's body language and seeing when someone is lying. And Sasuke seemed to be telling the truth.

"Fine." she said while unlocking her front door. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good-night Sasuke."

"Good-night Sakura." he said to her before turning away towards the Uchiha complex.

_It still hasn't sunk in that Sakura reads porn. She's just too innocent. . . . ._ And then it hit him.

_Is she still innocent? She said she would always love me and wait for me. But she doesn't love me anymore and we never even really got to repair the relationship we did have after I came back from killing Itachi. She left for her mission only a month after I returned. She wouldn't wait for someone who was already there. She's a grown woman Sasuke. A very attractive and desired woman. I would highly doubt that she is. Though, I also know that she would never give her body to just anyone. Ugh. I don't know. I'll just have to find out myself without being too forward. I can probably trick Naruto into doing the dirty work for me. That sounds like a good plan. I'll do that._

Then he noticed he was at his front door already unlocking it without even realizing what he was doing, for he was too deep in his thoughts.

* * *

**Next chapter: Seduction for hell's bell's**

It's gonna be a pretty funny chapter.

Please review! I want to know how I'm doing. Hope you enjoyed this chap.!


	3. Seduction For Hell's Bell's

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, though it's most likely a good thing. I would probably screw it up.**

**Chapter 3: Seduction For Hell's Bell's**

* * *

Sakura hadn't slept that good as she did last night for four years. She fell asleep in her own bed, covered in her own comforter, and laying on her own fluffy pillows, knowing that the next day she would be with the people she cared for most, her friends. Sakura had gotten a letter from Tsunade two and a half years ago informing her that her mother past away due to a heart attack. She has no other family, so her friends are all she has right now.

Sakura laid in bed for a while, having woken up ten minutes before her alarm clock went off at seven o'clock. This always happened to her, her biological clock was just too damn good. It pissed her off when she woke up early, knowing she could have had ten more minutes to sleep. Today was no exception.

Finally, her alarm went off forcing her to get up and ready for the day. Sakura had a normal routine every morning. Get up, take a shower, get dressed in her normal red tank-top, shorts and skirt, eat breakfast, then spend the spare time she gave herself to read a bit. Right before she left, she strapped her twin ninjato's to her back. This was one of the skills she was thought while on her mission. Sakura found that she was very skillful with a blade, but was completely superb and almost unbeatable when she had two. She devised many jutsu for her new weapons. She couldn't wait to show the guys.

When she arrived, she found Naruto and Sasuke already there, arguing about what type of ramen was the best at Ichiraku's. An unexpected argument on Sasuke's part, Sakura thought. They stopped when they noticed she was there.

"Hey Sakura, your later than usual. What gives?" Naruto asked.

"It's five 'till eight. I'm not late."

"I said lat_er_ then usual. But any way's, you want to get some breakfast? Kakashi won't be here for another hour or two."

"It hurts that you have such little faith in me Naruto." a voice said from behind them.

Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke all looked at their former sensei with wide eyes. Not once have they ever seen him show up early for anything. **Ever!** Sasuke and Sakura were surprised, but kept their cool. Naruto on the other hand was showing every bit of turmoil that he felt. His jaw was down to his chest, eyes were the size of golf balls, his arms hung limply at his side, and wasn't breathing.

Finally catching his breath, he gave a loud yell, "Ahhh. What did hell freeze over or something? Why the heck are you here on time?"

Kakashi just smiled, "I thought today was a special day so I came on time." he said simply. "Anyway, are you all ready for the bell test?"

"If I have to be."

"You bet I'm ready!"

A slight nod of the head.

"Alright then," Kakashi said happily. He then opened his pouch, took out two bell's and tied them to his belt. He jumped back about forty feet to distance himself from the others, then pulled his headband up to reveal his sharingan.

"Begin!"

Both Naruto and Sasuke disappeared in the opposite of each other, hiding themselves. Sakura on the other hand just stood were she was, slowly slipping on her gloves, smiling at the ground.

_What is she doing? What is she up . . . ._ Kakashi's thoughts were cut short when he noticed four Naruto's attacking him from behind. He was almost too late.

Kakashi turned quickly to deflect the attacks when he saw quite a few shurikin and kunai's coming his way. He easily dodged them all except one that was in the shadow of a shurikin. It cut the string of one of the bells. Sakura was quick at grabbing hold of it while still in the air falling. Then there was a puff of smoke. Substitution jutsu. A log fell in Kakashi's place. Sakura looked in her hand only to find a bud from the log.

"Damnit.!" Sakura threw the bud to the ground to try to vent some of her frustration_. I knew this was going to be hell,_ She thought irately.

Kakashi watched from the bushes trying to catch his breath but still be quiet because he still didn't know Sasuke's location.

_That was really close. Excellent formation and teamwork. Damn, when did Sakura get such good aim and come to be that fast?_

Kakashi was watching Sakura intently, "Now what is she doing?"

Sakura closed her eyes and was focusing her chakra to her feet. She smiled. Before he knew it, there was a giant crack in the earth heading straight for him. Sakura had used her chakra in her feet to feel the vibration of the earth to pinpoint his location, once she found him she hit the ground, causing a great crack in the ground to head for Kakashi to get him from his hiding spot.

Kakashi jumped up to get away from Sakura's attack, only to find himself face-to-face with Sasuke's lion's barrage. Sasuke's foot hit Kakashi in the back of his head, causing him to plunge down to the ground in a puff of smoke! It was a clone!

Sasuke clenched his fists until his knuckles became white and gritted his teeth.

_How could I not see something so simple as a clone jutsu? Damnit Sasuke, focus!_ He thought to himself angrily. He then moved forward to where Sakura and Naruto were standing in shock.

"Your plan's are good Sakura," he said, ignoring Naruto's gaze. "Really good, but it's just not enough."

_So, Sakura's the brains of these attacks. Not surprising, she's always been the smart one._

This went on for another four hours, all of their well devised plans, useless against Kakashi. He wasn't called the Great Copy-ninja for nothing. This man could hold his ground against the last remaining Uchiha, the Kyubbi vessel, and a kunoichi who surpassed the Hokage herself in medical-ninjutsu.

The three young jounin sat against a tree together taking a break. They were all very tired, hungry, frustrated, and wanted to go home.

"Ten minutes my ass Sasuke!" Sakura said suddenly.

"Hn."

"Ugh, I can't take this anymore. Drastic call's, call's for drastic measures. You guys stay here. I'll be back with a bell." and with that she disappeared into the forest.

"Where the hell is she going?" Naruto asked loudly.

"I don't know baka. But I'm right beside you, so you don't have to yell." Sasuke said flatly. Naruto just glared at him and said nothing more.

Sakura focused her chakra to her feet once more to find Kakashi. He was in a tree to her right. She silently climbed the tree without using her chakra, knowing that if she did, Kakashi would know she was behind him. She stopped at a branch at his level. She couldn't believe she was about to do this.

Sakura put her back to the trunk of the tree crossed her legs and pulled out her Icha Icha book. "You do this to laugh at us, don't you?"

She startled Kakashi so much he almost fell off his branch. Once he regained his balance he turned to stare at Sakura.

_Not even three feet away from me and I didn't since her behind me! And is she reading Icha Icha?!?_

"How long have you been there?" he asked, trying to keep his eyes locked on hers, for the zipped on her tank-top was quite low, showing her black lace bra._ She was sweating, so she must have been hot. That's all._

"Oh, just a few minutes. Naruto and Sasuke were getting on my nerves so I left then I saw you up here and decided to join you." she answered in a matter-of-fact way.

"Oh, so Sakura, when did you start reading Icha Icha?"

Sakura wasn't listening, she seemed to be sucked into her book. She had flipped it to an exceptionally erotic page that she had already read and knew it would make her blush. Like she was now. She was playing her cards right so far.

Sakura bit her lip to hold back a smile, yet letting out a breathless giggle. Kakashi was watching her the whole time. He was dying to know what part she was on. Then, a sudden soft, seductive voice broke through his troubled thoughts.

"Kakashi, how do you do this?" Sakura asked.

"Do what?" he asked with a harsh voice, lower than usual. He tried to clear his throat.

"Read these books in public. I mean, do you ever . . . .react to this stuff? I can barely control myself when I'm alone, even more when I'm around someone."

Kakashi's mind want completely blank. He couldn't respond to anything. Well his mind at least, his body had no problem responding to Sakura's touch . . . ._Touch? Wait! What?_

Sakura had stood up and pinned him to the tree, pressing the length of her body against him. Then she whispered in his ear, "I can barely control myself now. . . ."

It was then, when she wrapped her fingers around one of the bells, untied it easily while distracting him by running her fingers through his hair and pressed her hips even harder against his groin. This forced a moan to escape from the back of his throat. Sakura's eyes went wide. She couldn't believe he was reacting this way to her.

_Oh God! I can't take this any longer. If I keep this up, he's going to end up having a full orgasm!_

Sakura slipped the bell down her bra for safe keeping then disappeared in a puff of pink smoke. Kakashi just continued standing there trying not to think about what just happened and thinking of things to get his damn erection down.

_Genma with pig-tails, Naruto eating ramen, Sasuke wearing a dress, um um, Pakkun, Gai, Lee for heavens sake! _Feeling it go down at that thought. _Umm. Stamps, Gai in a pink jump suit! Yeah, that did the trick_. He thought in relief, his eye twitching with the visual.

Kakashi started to walk along the branch when something caught his attention. He didn't hear the two bell's jingle against each other with each step he took. He looked down and felt his stomach drop down to his toes. There was only one bell!

"Damnit!" he yelled in both anger and embarrassment.

_She seduced me to get the bell. And it worked_!

Back with Sakura. . . .

Sakura was now standing behind a tree in front of Sasuke and Naruto. She began jingling the bell, getting both their attentions. She stuck out her arm with the jingling bell first, then poked her head around before coming out altogether. Both of their eyes went wide and mouths flew open in surprise.

"How? How'd you do it?" she heard Naruto ask.

"Let's just say I worked at Kakashi's weakness." she replied, sitting next to Sasuke.

"What, Icha Icha?" Sasuke asked, looking over to her.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. But anyway, times up in like one minute."

"Whatever." Sasuke said, sounding bored with it all.

_I wonder how Sakura really got that bell?_

"Time's up!"

Kakashi was walking up to them with his hands in his pockets. He stopped in front of Sakura.

"That didn't count you know." he said simply.

"What do you mean it didn't count?!? I got that bell off you fair and square!" the kunoichi said defensively.

"No, you didn't. I would like to see you get the bell by fighting me, not seducing me."

At this, Sasuke and Naruto were, once again, in complete shock. Their mind's were running rapidly trying to comprehend what Kakashi just said until Naruto voiced what was going through both their minds. Loudly.

"What the hell are you talking about? Sakura seducing you! Genma becoming Hokage is more likely than that! Sakura would never. . . ."

"Shut-up Naruto!" she snapped, then glared back at Kakashi. "You know it's mandatory for all kunoichi chunnin level and up to know the art of seduction. It's a kunoichi skill! It's perfectly fair! But if that's what you want _sensei,_then fine. I'll fight. But only on one condition." she said with venom.

"And what's that Sakura?" he asked in a sweet tone, knowing that it would really piss her off.

"You fight me. Not a substitution or a clone." she said through her teeth.

Kakashi shrugged, "Okay. But you'll have to get the bell before dawn."

Sakura just growled at him, then threw the bell she already possessed at his chest. Kakashi caught it and gave her a happy eye-crease. She tightened her fists in pure fury, which made blood drip from her hands. Sakura glared at him before turning on her heal.

"Naruto. Sasuke. Move!" she yelled. They both immediately got out of the way, not wanting to upset her more.

Once she was a good twenty feet away from Kakashi, she turned to face him. Her hands were glowing green, healing herself. Then she began to do some hand signs. Once she finished, she unsheathed both ninjato's that were on her back and took her stance.

They were all about to see why they should never underestimate her anymore.

Kakashi knew she wasn't going to make the first move, so he did. He threw twenty shurikin's and kunai's right at her. Sakura's speed was unimaginable. She deflected every single one with her ninjato's. Not even one got within a foot of her. She was now smiling while swinging a kunai on the tip's of each of her blades. His own kunai's came flying back at him at great speed, both barely missing him.

While Kakashi was concentrating on dodging the attacks, Sakura was running toward him filled with rage. He quickly pulled put two large kunai's to try and match her twin ninjato's. Sakura's first blow was with full force, which made Kakashi fly back a few feet. When he got to his feet, she came at him again. This time he was ready. . . .sort of.

Her speed was incredible. If it wasn't for his sharingan, Kakashi wouldn't have stood a chance against Sakura. He hated to admit it, but he could barley keep up now. He was always a step ahead of her, knowing her next move, but this didn't mean he was quick enough to block them all. Every few blows he would get hit.

Then all of a sudden Sakura stopped, looked at him, then placed her twin ninjato's back on her back.

"Your getting slow Kakashi." she said, then threw something at him. Kakashi looked at the small object in his hand. It was one of the bells. He was in a daze. How could he have not noticed?

"Yes maybe. Or it's you who've just gotten faster." Kakashi replied with a smile.

Either way, you're not fast enough." Sakura laughed, throwing something else at Kakashi then disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.

Kakashi was staring at the object in his hand once again. It was the second bell!

_She took both?! How? When?_

"Seems Sakura's learned a few new skills over the past few years." Sasuke said breathlessly.

_You've always said you hated watching Naruto and I from behind. But you're right next to us now Sakura. You have no idea how impressed I am. You truly have become a strong kunoichi._

* * *

(A/N) Okay, I'm so sick of sneaking on the computer, it's taking me such a long time to write these chapters. 

Next chapter: Welcome Home Party.

Please R&R!!!!!


	4. Welcome Home Party

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. **

**Chapter 4: Welcome Home Party**

* * *

It was around four-thirty when Sakura finally got back to her apartment. She had almost forgotten about Ino's "surprise" welcome home party. She has to be there at six o'clock. 

_Well, an hour and a half is long enough for me to get ready._

Sakura took a long, hot, much needed bubble bath. She came out of the aroma of cherry blossoms only when her skin began to prune. Wrapping her long rosette hair in a towel, she went to her room to find an outfit. . . Easier said than done.

"Okay. First a top." she said before fingering through the shirt section of her walk-in closet. "No. No. No. Too pink. Too orange. Makes me look fat. Makes me look like a whore. No. No. Ugh. . . I still have that?!"

After nearly ten minutes of this, she finally decided on a tight red tank-top. Thankfully, she already knew what she was going to wear with it. Sakura walked over to her skirt section.

"Where are you? Where are you? Aha!" she pulled out a black mini skirt and her regular training shorts to wear under it. "Perfect."

Sakura laid her outfit on the bed then made her way to the bathroom to brush her hair and do her make-up. She didn't put a lot on, just some mascara and a little bit of eye liner under her eye's to give them more dimension.

Once she finished getting dressed and ready, she headed out to Ino's house. She was so excited to see all her friend's again.

_I wonder who's going to be there, _she thought as she came up to Ino's front door and knocked.

"Come in Forehead." she heard Ino calling from inside.

Sakura opened the door and walked in. "Hey Pig, why is it so dark?' she yelled, knowing exactly why.

The lights came on with a loud "Welcome home!"

Sakura scanned the room. Everyone was there. There was Ino standing next to a happy TenTen, a bored looking Shikamaru holding Choji by the collar keeping him away from the food table, Hinata smiling shyly between Shino and an Akumaru-less Kiba (Ino wouldn't let Akumaru in because he was so big now.) In the far corner is both Saskue and Neji leaning against the wall with their arms across their chest glaring at the crying Lee and Gai next to them. Sakura laughed when she saw the sobbing Gai try to hug Kakashi but was pushed away, forcing him to hug a now very uncomfortable Ganma. Next to Kakashi (who was reading his book), was Naruto who was glaring hard at his perverted sensei who had his eyes popping out of his head starring at Sakura. He only stopped when a petite fist met with the side of his head, this being Tsunade. And right next to Sakura by the door, facing everyone was Sai painting the whole scene. There were people there that Sakura didn't know, but didn't pay any attention to them.

Before she could say anything, she felt herself being swept off the floor into a tight bear hug. "Lee. . . ." she managed to get out with the little breath she had.

Lee began to spin her around. "You have come back Sakura. I am so happy! The power of youth-"

"Lee. . . I can't breath."

"Oh, I am sorry Sakura. I've just missed you so much!" he said through his sobs, finally putting her down.

Sakura smiled, letting him know that she missed him too.

"Alright Forehead, you can say hi to everyone once the party's started!" Ino yelled.

And with that, the music began playing and people went to go get the drinks. Sakura walked in, giving all her old friend's hug's. After awhile, Sakura began to regret her choice of top's. It was low cut and all the guy's were tall. (That being able to explain itself.) Sakura could feel dozens of eyes boring holes right through her. She noticed that half the night both Sasuke and Naruto were scolding all the men that were staring at her. It was funny seeing how overprotective they were. Especially Sasuke. And he seemed to be the one doing it the most. Sakura didn't bother to try and stop him because she knows how stubborn he is, so she'll do the next best thing. . . .get him drunk.

"Here Sasuke. You look like you need one." she said, handing him a drink. Sasuke glared at a man behind Sakura who was staring at her ass before taking the drink from her.

"Thanks." he said flatly, then finished off the drink in one gulp. Sakura expected this and handed him another one. He only drank half of that one before glaring at her.

"Are you trying to get me drunk Sakura, to stop me from killing all these bastards who are staring at you?"

_Damn, he's on to me_! she thought.

"No! I'm just trying to get you to have a good time. That's all. And plus, I'm used to guy's behaving this way. It's not like they ever do anything and if they did, I'm perfectly capable of handling them myself."

"Hn. It's disrespectful."

"I know Sasuke, but your glares won't make them stop."

"They have so far."

Sakura giggled, "Fine, just don't kill anyone."

"Hn. I'll make no promises." Sasuke said, finishing off his second drink. "I'm going to get another one." he said before walking off.

Sakura smiled. Sasuke really has changed from the last time she saw him before she left. He had only just returned to Konoha and was still stoic and awkward to be around. Before he came back, she had worked so hard to see him only as a close friend. But once she saw him, old feelings flooded back. Then again, when she came back from her mission, she thought she had abandoned her feelings for him and had moved on. She was wrong. She loves him just as much now then she did when she was twelve. Though this time, she's going to bury them and pretend they don't exist because Sakura has given up on love. In her mind now, it doesn't matter how much you think you love a person or how much you think they love you. It's all a lie.

_The only thing you get out of love is pain. Twice I've loved and twice I've had my heart broken. I'm not going to make the same mistake of loving you again Sasuke. _Sakura thought as she watched Sasuke walk off.

She finished off her second drink and started on her third, most of the people there were on their fifth or sixth, and very drunk. It started to smell like sweat and alcohol, so she decided to step outside in the garden for some fresh air. But she wasn't alone. There was someone already sitting on the bench.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" Sakura asked the person. He then turned around.

"Oh, um no, not at all." He said, scooting over to the far left side of the bench. Sakura stood there for a second, admiring him, before she took on the far right side.

"Thank you." she managed to mumble.

This man was gorgeous! He had long blue-black hair tied in a pony-tail at his neck and deep sapphire eyes. His body was hard and muscular, telling by the ripples Sakura could see through his dark blue collard shirt.

_He's perfect. In all way's perfect. Oh and his smile! He's got dimples!_

"You must be Sakura Haruno, right?" his voice was deep and smooth.

"Umm, yes I am."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Reku Imakita."

"Nice to meet you too." Sakura managed to say.

"Soo. This party's for you?" he asked.

"Umm. Yeah, my friend Ino planned it. I just came back from a long mission, so it's just a welcome home thing."

"Oh? How long were you gone for. . . ? If that's not being too forward."

"No, your fine. I've been gone for four years."

"Wow. I've never been away for that long. The longest mission I've had was I guess. . .six months. Maybe seven. So what was it like living away from Konoha for so long?"

"It was hard and lonely. But I'd rather not talk about it."

"Oh, okay that's fine." he said quickly, sensing the pain in her voice. Then she suddenly looked up at him and smiled.

"So how is it that you ended up here Reku?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Well. . . I was walking out of the ANBU headquarters when I was attacked by this blond girl, your friend Ino probably, who told me that I should come to a party tonight. I was desperately trying to get her off me, but she wouldn't budge. Then when I stopped, she stuffed an invitation in my hand, kissed me, then walked off like nothing ever happened. . . "

"Yeah, that sound's like Ino alright." she said giggling.

"Yeah well, I was about to throw the invitation away but then I thought there would be no harm in just reading it. When I saw the party was for a Sakura Haruno, I decided to go. I have heard so many things about you. The Hokage's apprentice, exceptional medic-nin, superhuman strength. You've always seemed to spark an interest in me. I was planning on trying to talk to you tonight, but that Sasuke Uchiha wouldn't let me within ten feet of you. So I just came out here to get away from his glares. Damn, I'm glad looks can't kill."

"Oh, I'm sorry about him. I'm the only kunoichi on the team so their always too overprotective. He promised he wouldn't kill anyone. . .Um, sort of."

"Oh, that's reassuring." he said laughing.

"Naruto didn't bother you, did he?"

"Is he the one with the blond hair"

"Yeah."

"No, not really. Just glared. Not as bad as Uchiha though."

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll talk to them about this. It's just that they have always had the feeling that they need to protect me from everything. But don't worry, it's not like they'll actually do anything to you."

"Umm, well I hope not. You have some of the strongest shinobi in the village on your team."

Sakura laughed, "Strong yeah, but if you actually get to know them, you'll be surprised."

"Yeah, but I still wouldn't want to mess with them." Reku said, now laughing with Sakura.

They talked for a long time about, well everything. Sakura found out that Reku was a medic-nin as well and was an ANBU. Towards the end though, he finally asked her out.

"Yeah, I would love to. What time?" Sakura answered.

"Um. I'll pick you up at seven?"

"Yeah, that'll be fine. Where do you plan on taking us?" she asked with a smirk.

"It's a surprise. But wear something nice."

"Wear something nice to where?" a voice came from behind them. Sakura sighed, not looking at the two figures coming towards them.

"That's none of your business Naruto." she said with a hint of anger. Naruto and Sasuke were now standing in front of Sakura and Reku. Sasuke's eye's narrowed when he saw him.

"What are you doing with _him?"_ Sasuke asked sharply. He was obviously very drunk.

_Damn, I thought getting him drunk would lighten him up, not give him the intent to kill, _she thought worriedly.

"Were just talking Sasuke." she said wearily.

"Oh good, then do you mind if we join you?" Not even waiting for an answer, Naruto and Sasuke squeezed themselves between Sakura and Reku.

There was an awkward silence for awhile until Reku stood up.

"I think I should go Sakura. It was nice meeting you finally."

"Leaving already?" Naruto asked with false sorrow.

"Hn, about time." Sasuke mumbled. Sakura punched them both on the head then stood up.

"Once again, I'm sorry. So Saturday at seven?"

"Yeah."

"I'm looking forward to it. See you then." And with that, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sakura turned to her team mates. "What the hell do you think you two are doing?!" she yelled.

"What the hall are you doing with him?" Sasuke said firmly.

"You answer my question first Sasuke Uchiha." she said this with so much venom, it sobered Sasuke right up.

"Were making sure the jerk doesn't try anything."

"What gives either one of you any right to do such a thing?! And why are you calling him a jerk, you don't even know him-"

"I don't have to." Sasuke said thickly, now standing up and looking down at the angry kunoichi.

"You don't have to? And what's that supposed to mean?" her hands were balled up and shaking with pure anger by now.

Sasuke turned away, "You're so annoying."

It seemed like all her frustration from the entire day just came out in one punch across Sasuke's head, clearly knocking him out cold.

Sakura took a deep breath. _Ugh, what am I doing? I'm at a party for me and I'm outside arguing. _She looked back down at Sasuke, _He had it coming._

Sakura walked back inside. Everyone was drinking and having a good time. Sakura decided to join them.

The party lasted for hours. By this time everyone was extremely drunk. Ino and Shikamaru were making out on the floor, Hinata and TenTen were trading bra's and were being watched by an eager Naruto, Kiba, and Jiriaya (who had been taking notes for his next book.) About half party was surrounding a poker table where a very drunk Hokage was gambling. Two very deadly combinations. For her at least. Genma was in a bathroom with two women (having a threesome probably). Lee, Gai, Sasuke, Choji, and Neji were all unconscious. Lee and Gai simply couldn't hold their alcohol, Choji was in some drinking game and ended up passing out, and Neji was knocked out by Sasuke for using his byakugan to look through women's (Sakura's) shirt.

Sakura wasn't that drunk, just a little light headed. She decided to say her good-bye's then leave when she tripped over a body. Sakura looked down to see Sasuke's body beside the couch. Naruto probably laid him there after she left. Sakura checked him for any damage. Her heart sank. Sure enough, she gave him a concussion. Now she'll have to take him home to heal his him. She slung him over her shoulder and made her way to his apartment.

Once she got there, she laid him down on his bed, took his sandals off, and headed to the bathroom to get a wet washcloth to put over his forehead. She then sat down on the edge of the bed and began to heal his head, Sakura did all she could, then left him to rest. She decided to stay overnight to watch over him.

It was three o'clock and Sakura was wide awake and starving. She helped herself to Sasuke's kitchen before making her way back to his room where she could keep an eye on him. Sakura propped the pillows up in a sitting position next to him on his bed, pulled out her copy of Icha Icha Tactics, and began to read. She got through five chapters before she fell asleep

6:00 A.M.

Sasuke woke up with a throbbing migraine. He felt as if his body was made of lead, for he had a difficult time sitting up. Then once he did, he got motion sickness and puked over the side of his bed.

_What the hell happened? _He asked himself. Then the memories of last night came flooding back to him. _I should remember not to get Sakura that angry anymore. Or at least be aware that she's about to hit me so I can stop her._

He slowly rolled off his bed, barely missing his own vomit on the floor. Now came the hard part, standing up. He want to grab two handful's of sheet's to pull himself up, but instead he got hold of a black mini skirt and a hand.

Sasuke let go immediately, staring at the sleeping woman in his bed. Her hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head, tank-top askew, skirt lifted up to her waist, and was holding an open volume of Icha Icha in her hand's. Sasuke couldn't stop staring at the beautiful scene.

**Sakura's Dream**

Sakura was on a lakeshore in a small kimono stopping at her thighs. She stopped to look at the setting sun when she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist. Sakura didn't struggle or twist out of his arms. She didn't want to. His body was warm and comforting against her back. She then felt this man's hot breath on the side of her face.

"I want you Sakura." he whispered in her ear.

Sakura's eyes went wide, "Sasuke." she breathed. She then turned around to face the handsome Uchiha. He stroked her cheek and put his forehead to hers.

"I need you." He pleaded, before trailing hot kisses down her neck onto her shoulder. Sakura let out a breathless moan, letting him know that she still wanted him too. He quickly acknowledge her approval by slipping his hand under her obe and pulling it off to let her kimono fall to the ground leaving her naked for all to see.

Pulling her naked body against his, he let his hand's roam freely while whispering passionate and erotic thing's that only made her even more aroused. Sasuke's hands were everywhere at once. While one hand was caressing her hardened nipples, the other would be swirling the curly pink hair between her legs. Then all of a sudden she was lifted up and placed on the soft, wet grass.

Sasuke kissed her deep and passionately. He then lunged into her, muffling her cry in his own mouth. Once they got a steady pace, Sasuke lifted her leg's to wrap around his waist so he could get deeper. He began to role his hips roughly, pushing Sakura over the edge in ecstasy. She screamed his name before collapsing

**Back with Sasuke...**

_What the hell is Sakura doing here? In my bed? Why. . . _His thoughts were cut off when Sakura's breath became heavier.

"Sasuke." she whispered, barely audible. But Sasuke heard it and stood up without a problem, watching her intently. Sakura's back arched and she gave a low moan.

Sasuke's knee's gave out from under him and he fell back to the floor, still watching Sakura.

"Sasuke!" she moaned loudly, now lying on her back breathing hard.

Sasuke stared at his former teammate wide-eyed. Was she really dreaming what he thought she was dreaming?? Sasuke took a deep breath in before stood up and walked to the bathroom to take a very cold shower to get rid of his erection!

_I thought Sakura didn't like me that way anymore._ He thought to himself while he turned the cold knob all the way.

Sakura was startled awake by the sound of running water. She sat straight up trying to forget her dream and remember where she was.

_Damn, I'm never reading Icha Icha before falling asleep again,_ she thought while looking around.

"Sasuke?" she called, then realized he was the one in the shower.

"Well, I guess I should make some breakfast."

Sasuke came out of the shower after a good twenty minutes. He expected to see Sakura still asleep, but instead he found a made bed, vomitless floor, and the smell of eggs and bacon. He followed the smell into the kitchen where Sakura was cooking. She looked up at him and smiled, then it quickly turned into a frown.

"You shouldn't be walking around Sasuke." she said gravely.

"Why?" he asked in his normal bored tone.

"Baka, because you have a concussion. I've already had to clean up your puke once. I refuse to do it again. Now go back to your room and lay down. I'll bring up your food." There was no arguing with a determined Sakura (not like he had the strength to anyway), so Sasuke turned around and headed back to his room.

Sakura followed him in there about a minute later with a tray of food. She set it down on his lap and pulled up a chair next to his bed and began reading some medical scrolls.

"Once you're done I need to finish healing you. I was in no condition to do it last night with as much alcohol I had in me, something could have gone wrong because I wasn't at my best. I didn't want to take the risk." she said to him as he ate. "So I just need you to tell me at what level and the location of the pain is."

Sasuke who had finished his food, had his head back and his eyes closed. "My head feels like it's going to split open. There's also a sharp pain going down my spine." he said calmly, without opening his eyes.

Sakura frowned, "Okay, take off your shirt."

Sasuke did what he was told. He lifted his shirt over his head, smirking at the slight blush that covered Sakura's cheeks. She looked away quickly trying not to be remember her dream.

"Okay, now lay back."

Once he was lying down, she concentrated on the green chakra in her hands. She placed her fingertips over his eyebrows and started weaving her chakra through his head, searching for the wounded area. When she found it, she began to work her chakra over it.

Sasuke had to bite back a moan as he felt the warmth flow not only to his head, but through his whole body. She kept this up for five-teen minted before telling him to turn on his stomach so she could get to his spinal cord. Another five-teen minutes passed before she was finished.

"Alright Sasuke. How do you feel?" she asked, pleased with her work. But she didn't get an answer. "Sasuke?"

He was asleep. Sakura smiled at him, knowing that he was in a deep, pain free sleep. She pulled the covers over him then slipped out of the room. She walked home with a small smile on her face.

_I wonder if he knows I heard what he was doing in the shower?_

* * *

Hope you enjoyed the chap!! **Please review!!**

**Next chapter: Overprotective??**

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	5. Overprotective?

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 5: Overprotective?**

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* * *

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Sasuke woke up about an hour later feeling better than ever. He got up and decided to get some training in before lunch. As he was walking down the street, his mind couldn't seem to stray from Sakura, or to be even more precise, her date tonight.

_What if that guy tries something? She said he's a medic-nin too, so he's bound to have something to just slip into her drink and knock her out. And if he does that, she'll be helpless and-_

"You seem troubled Sasuke. What's on your mind?" a voice said from behind him, interrupting his thoughts.

"Huh? Oh, nothing." He said, looking around to see where he was. "I was just thinking."

"Sakura's date?" Kakashi said, sticking his hands deep in his pockets.

"Yeah, I don't like the guy."

"Mm, either do I."

"Okay Kakashi, where are you trying to get here?" Sasuke asked, looking at Kakashi suspiciously.

"Well, I just ran into Naruto and well, believe it or not, he had an ingenious plan."

"I never thought I would hear the words Naruto and ingenious plan in the same sentence. So what's dobe planning?"

* * *

**6:30 that night. . . .**

Sakura was putting the last of her make-up on when she hears someone banging loudly on her door.

"Hold on, I'm coming!" she yelled, running to the door. She opened the door to find a blood soaked Naruto.

"Naruto! What happened to you?! Come in." she said, taking his hand and guiding him inside.

Naruto pulled away and said quickly, "No Sakura, you have to come with me. We were sparing on the training grounds and things got a little out of control. You need to come quick to heal him!" he was now pulling her outside.

"Hold on, just let me get my things." She slipped on some white flip-flops and ran to the training grounds with Naruto.

When they got there, they saw Sasuke leaning against a tree breathing hard and holding his ribs.

"Sasuke!" Sakura ran up to him and dropped to her knees. "What happened?"

"I think the dobe broke some ribs." He gasped. Sakura laid him down on his back and ripped off his shirt so there would be no barriers. Green chakra appeared in her hands.

"Some ribs? Sasuke you've broken all but four! I'm surprised your lungs didn't collapse from the pressure. What the hell did you do to him Naruto?" she said, glaring at the nervous blond.

"It was an accident. I swear. I didn't mean to hit him that hard. He got in the way." He explained quickly, hoping that when she was done she wouldn't kill him.

"You two need to be more careful." And with that, they were silent the rest of the time she was healing Sasuke. After a long half-hour, Sakura was finished.

"Alright Sasuke, I'm finished."

"Thank you." He said, rubbing his rib cage.

"Hey what time is it?" Sakura asked, just remembering her date.

"Um, it's 7:10. Why? Oh!" Naruto said loudly.

"Oh no! I have to go. Bye." And she disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other and smiled. (Well Sasuke smirked). With two puffs of smoke, Sasuke's form became Naruto and Naruto's form became Sasuke. Naruto rubbed his rib cage.

"Man that hurt. I thought you said we were gonna break **a **rib, not all of them." Naruto complained.

"The fox's chakra would have healed the one rib before I could have even gotten to Sakura. And plus, the timing was perfect." Sasuke said, sitting down next to his friend. "Well, the first part of your plan went without a flaw. Just let's hope the rest does. Kakashi should be trailing her now."

"Yeah, so we need to get ready for stage two. We need to be there before they get there."

"Right, then let's go." And they disappeared in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Sakura arrived just in time to catch Reku walking away from her door with his head hanging low and flowers almost falling from his hand.

"Reku!" she called, running towards him. He turned around and looked at her in astonishment.

"Sakura! I thought you stood me up." Reku said in relief.

"Oh I'm so sorry. At 6:30 Naruto came banging on my door covered in blood and told me Sasuke was in trouble and needed my help. I was worried so I had no time to write you a note. When I got there Sasuke had almost all of his ribs broken. Naruto was beat up pretty badly but the fox's chakra seemed to already heal him. So when I was done I left as fast as possible, hoping I wasn't too late. And it seems I barely made it on time to catch up with you." Sakura explained quickly. Once she had finally finished, she noticed how far fetched the story sounded. But it didn't matter. It was the truth

"Oh. Wow, well um. . .These are for you." He said, handing her a bouquet of roses.

"Thank you. Come on. I'll put them in a vase now." Taking the flowers she led him into her apartment to find a place for them. Once she was done with the flowers, they were on their way down the street not noticing that their every move was being watched.

"You look beautiful tonight." Reku said, trying to break the awkward silence between them.

"Thank you. Even though I'm all sweaty and gross." She giggled.

He laughed. This was true, yes, but she still looked beautiful. Sakura was wearing a white miniskirt and a baby blue low-cut t-shirt. The pale colors made her hair stand out more than ever.

"No, not at all Sakura." He said smiling.

"So, where are we going?" she asked.

"We're here." He pointed at the Ichiriki, which was one of the best restaurants in Konoha.

Sakura gasped, "Are you serious? I'm underdressed."

"No you're not. Come on." Taking her in and leading her inside.

"How may I help the lovely couple this evening?" the woman at the front podium asked.

"Table for two please." Reku said.

"Right this way." The woman stepped from behind the podium, grabbed two menus and led them to a table in the back. "If you need anything, just ask. Your waitress will be with you in a few moments to tell you the specials. Enjoy your meal."

"Thank you." They both said politely before she walked off.

There weren't many people there tonight. There was only one couple who was near them. Sakura found them to be quite a cute couple, probably around her own age. There was a beautiful blond girl with blue eyes and long blond hair and a very handsome man with dark hair and brown eyes. The couple seemed to be arguing over something, but Sakura couldn't hear what it was about.

"Um, I'm going to the restroom real quick, okay." Sakura said, standing up. A few seconds later the man at the table next to them got up as well, heading for the bathroom, leaving the girl alone looking upset. Reku thought she looked familiar but just couldn't remember from where. She looked over to catch him looking at her. She glared at first but then smiled and waved.

"Hey sexy." She said, winking at him. Reku's eyes got big then waved back cautiously.

"You wanna lave and go have some real fun?"

"Um, no thank you. I'm on a date right now. Maybe another time?" he answered in a horse voice.

"Soon?" she pouted.

"Uh, yeah." Then cleared his voice and gazed at the menu when he saw Sakura come back.

"Sorry about that. I just felt gross from running all that way." Sakura said, sitting across from him.

"No problem. You know what you want?"

"Um, no not yet. You?"

"Can't choose. Oh, here comes our waitress to tell us the specials."

* * *

After they finished their meals, Sakura and Reku walked around the village together. They talked about everything. Medical-jutsu's, some missions, accomplishments, friends and their teams. And the whole time neither one of them noticed the three people watching them closely.

Once they got to Sakura's door, she turned to smile at him, "I had a great time Reku. Thank you."

"Yeah, I'll see you again right?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes. You can come by whenever you want. I would like to go out again."

"Great, well I'll see you around Sakura." He gave her a hug and tried to kiss her but she pulled back.

"Sorry, strict rule of mine. Never kiss on the first date. But the sooner you make a second date, the sooner you'll get one." She said smiling.

"Understandable." Ha said, looking put down.

"Goodnight Reku." She gave him a peck on the cheek before disappearing through her front door. Reku sighed, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

From across the street, three figures came out of hiding. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke began to walk down the street together looking as if they wanted to strangle the next person to cross their path.

"The bastard puts on one nice show." Sasuke said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah well, it wont matter anyway if the plan works." Kakashi said calmly, pulling out his book. "Oh and buy the way Naruto, did you keep track of how many men checked you out tonight?"

"Hehehe, yeah. Thirty-two." Naruto said proudly, putting his arms behind his head and smiling to himself.

"Damnit." Sasuke rasped under his breath.

"Hm, and what was the bet Sasuke? I said between twenty-five and thirty-five and you said, what . . . ten? Now you have to accept that Naruto is a very attractive woman."

"Uh, was that an insult or a compliment?" Naruto asked confused.

"Neither, it was just a statement." Kakashi answered.

"Yes a very disturbing statement. Now can we get off the subject please?" Sasuke said coolly.

"Fine, about tomorrow. Naruto, do you have the letter?"

"Yup."

"And we all know our positions when its time right?"

"Yup."

"Hn."

"All right then, we'll meet at the hot springs."

"Right." They all then vanished, heading back to their homes.

* * *

The next morning Reku found a letter on his door by the "Hokage", saying he should take the day off and spend it at the hot springs. He found the order odd but he didn't care, he got the day off.

When he got to the hot springs, there were only two other men there. Reku sank into the water across from them then placed a towel over his head to relax. After ten minutes of silence, Reku heard two people entering the water.

"It's about time you two got here." He heard one man say.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault. He was the, one who wanted to take forever to get dressed. He's like a woman!" the second man said with a splash.

"So Tazuna, are you going to tell us who your mystery date was last night?" the first man asked.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you Mariku." Tazuna answered.

"Try me."

"Okay then. It was Sakura Haruno."

At hearing this, Reku inhaled a full mouth of water and began to choke.

"You okay?" one of the guys asked with out concern for the blue man in front of him. It was like he was mocking him just by asking. Reku finally caught his breath.

"Yeah. . . I'm fine." He coughed.

"Alright then. . . so how'd your date go?" Mariku asked.

"It was great. But around seven she ran off saying she had to be somewhere."

"You should have never gone out with her Tazuna." One of the men said.

"And why is that, Nobu?" he asked coolly.

"Because she's just gonna do what she does to all the guys. She acts so sweet and pretends to have a lot in common with you. Then at the end of the first date she plays the 'strict rule, never kiss on the first date,' card, pulling you in wanting more. Once he's there and willing to do anything for her and when she gets what she wants, she breaks his heart. All of this and not once does he get the kiss she promised in the first date."

"That's ridiculous. Sakura is a good, honest woman and would never hurt anyone intently other than her enemies." Tazuna said defensively, "And how do you know so much about it if that's what she really does?"

"Because I was one of these men once. And I know plenty of other men who have gone through the same thing. Sakura has a certain routine on the first date." Nobu said casually.

"I noticed no routine."

"When you picked you up, did she talk a lot and sound nervous?"

"Yeah, but most girls do."

"Did she go to the bathroom when you just got to the restaurant?"

"Yeah-"

"When you dropped her of, did you try to kiss her?"

"Yes."

"Did she pull back and say it was a strict rule of hers not to kiss on the first date?"

"Yeah, how'd you-"

"And did she say the sooner you make a second date, the sooner you'll get the kiss?"

". . .Yes?"

"That's her routine." Nobu finished with confidence.

Reku was holding his breath, trying not to miss a word of their conversation. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, Sakura did all those things. Every single one of them. So it must be true what he was saying.

_And it makes so much since too! Her running towards me all out of breath and with that stupid excuse about Naruto breaking Sasuke's ribs. She could have come up with a better lie. _Reku thought coldly. He didn't like the thought of being just a game for Sakura.

"Impossible. . . ." Tazuna mumbled.

Reku couldn't take it anymore. He left the hot springs furious. But when he walked through the entry way, he bumped into a petit figure.

"Oh, I'm sorry. . ." he said, then looked down at who he collided with. It was the blond girl from the restaurant!

"Well well well. The second time in two day's. Are you stalking me or something?" she said playfully.

"No just enjoying a day at the hot springs is all." He said calmly.

"Hm. So where's your girlfriend?"

"She's not my girlfriend and will never be. I'm Reku Imakita by the way." He said taking her hand.

"Satsu Onawa. So Reku, what are you doing for the rest of the day? I remember you saying we should have some fun together."

"I'm free today, and tonight."

She bit her lip, "Good, so am I. Here, follow me." She said, grabbing his hand and leading him to the other side of the building. She pushed him against the wall and pressed her body against his.

"Do you think I could give you a preview?" she asked.

"Sure." He said hoarsely. She then gave him a wild, open mouth kiss.

"This is really nice of you Naruto, treating me to breakfast that wasn't ramen, buying me flowers, and now taking me to the hot springs. But what's up? What's the occasion? You're never this sweet unless you did something wrong."

"Sakura, don't you remember? Today's the day we officially became Team 7 ten years ago! I thought you of all people would remember. Were meeting Kakashi and Sasuke-teme for dinner tonight to celebrate."

"Wow and you were the one to remember the date?"

"Yup! It was the day I got a family. Of course I would remember."

"How can you remember a date from ten years ago, but it takes a miracle for you to remember to wear you're under-" Sakura stopped dead in her tracks, staring at the two people ravishing each other in a wild embrace.

Sakura could hardly believe her eyes. It was Reku and the blond girl from the restaurant last night! She thought she was hallucinating until she felt Naruto shake with pure fury. Seeing the murderous intent in Naruto's eye's she took his arm and started to walk away. Naruto was breathing hard, trying to control his anger.

"I'm going to kill him. He'll be dead by noon, I swear-"

"Naruto calm down. It's alright, it's not like he hurt me. I barely even knew the guy. But I'm glad we did see this because now I see what an asshole he is. Hn, well I guess I should have seen this coming. Sasuke did keep warning me about him. I should have listened to him."

"Well, at least you found out before he got the chance to hurt you. But can I still kill him?" he asked hopefully.

"No Naruto, you can't kill him."

"Cut off a limb?"

"No."

"A finger?"

"No."

"A toe?" asking desperately.

"No, your not going to cut anything of his off." She said laughing, knowing he was just trying to cheer her up now.

"Then can I just rough him up a little bit?"

"Go for it, but not now." Sakura took Naruto's arm and laid her head on his shoulder while they were walking.

* * *

**Bake at the hot springs. . . .**

Reku and Satsu finally separated, panting. They discussed a meeting place and Reku left, leaving her to watch him walk away. Once he was out of sight, there was a puff of smoke and "Satsu" became Ino. Ino straightened out her clothes before banging on the wall behind her three times.

Inside, the four men who were in the hot springs with Reku heard the three bangs on the wall. They all smiled and transformed back to themselves. Sasuke, Kakashi, Sai, and Genma all climbed out of the water and headed out to meet with Ino.

"So how'd it go?" Sasuke asked flatly.

"He's a great kisser." Ino relied, fixing her hair.

"Not that! How was your transformation? What was Sakura's reaction? What did the jerk say?" Sasuke asked irritated.

"Alright, alright. My transformation went with out a hitch. Naruto made me study his sexy jutsu for hours until I was an exact replica. Sakura didn't really have a visible reaction, it was Naruto who got all worked up. She was the one to lead him away. And the 'jerk' as you call him said that Sakura was not and would never be his girlfriend. Happy now?"

"Thank you Ino for your help. If it wasn't for you, we would have had Naruto kiss him." Kakashi mumbled.

"Oh it was my pleasure. One, he was a great kisser and two, forehead deserves much better than that jackass."

"Yeah, and thank you Sai and Genma for coming. We just needed a total of four people to throw off any suspicion that it was Naruto, Sasuke, and I who were behind all of this."

"No problem. Just make sure that if Sakura does ever find out about you three sabotaging her relationship with that guy, I had nothing to do with it. Okay?" Genma said. "Well I guess I'll see you guy's around sometime." He said, and then disappeared. Sai merely nodded and vanished after him.

Ino shrugged, "Bye you guy's." then walked away. Sasuke and Kakashi waved before turned to each other.

"I can't believe this was all Naruto's plan. He thought up the whole thing, step by step without a flaw." Sasuke said more to himself than to Kakashi.

"Mm. I'm just glad this is over with. But the bad thing is, this was only one guy, one date. None of us like the thought of Sakura dating and seeing another man with her. We never had to worry about this when you were younger because she was in love with you."

"Hn."

"Reku wont be the only man that will be interested in Sakura, I hope you understand that Sasuke." Kakashi said, looking at his former student from the corner of his eye.

"Hn, I do. And I honestly don't look forward to it at all."

* * *

(A/N) Okay that was a long chapter. This was just to be a fun chapter, nothing real important in it accept Sasuke realizing he's beginning to have feelings for Sakura.

Umm, I don't know the name of the new chapter, I'm being slack. It's kinda hard cuz this was originally a SakuxKaka fanfic but I got bored with it and changed it to SakuxSasu. The plot is the same but some things that Kakashi would say or do Sasuke wouldn't, so I have to change quite a lot.

Anywayzzz, hope you enjoyed the chap. pleeeeease review!! I like them, they inspire me 


	6. A New Mission

**Disclaimer: No I don't own Naruto**

**Chapter 6: A New Mission**

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It had been a month since Sakura returned and things were almost back to normal. Sakura took up her old job at the hospital and continued training with Tsunade, (even though she has surpassed her). Sakura took on small missions here and there, while everyone else stuck with their A and S rank missions. Tsunade said she would only send Sakura on small, necessary missions because Konoha couldn't afford to lose her. Sakura thought it was flattering but she wanted to go on real missions with her team again.

Sasuke and Naruto never went on a mission without the other. They would complain constantly about eachother, but whenever Tsunade tried to separate them, they both would argue until their voice ran out. Kakashi on the other hand would just take whatever was given to him. Sakura's life was easy going and slow. A big change from the way she had been living for the past four years.

Sakura was sitting at her desk, reading Icha Icha, but still moving her pen to make it look like she was actually doing work. She was too sucked into her book to notice Sasuke leaning against her door frame, arms crossed over his chest, watching her. She was startled when she heard someone chuckle.

"Sasuke! What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised.

"You're blushing Sakura." He said with a smirk. He walked over to her and sat on her desk.

"Shut up." She spat, looking down, trying to hide her reddened cheeks.

"Hn."

"What are you doing here Sasuke?"

"I was going to see what you were doing tomorrow."

"Nothing, why?"

"Do you want to train tomorrow afternoon?"

"Yeah, sure." She answered with a smile.

"Hn. I'll meet you at the regular training grounds at seven." He said before walking out.

"Okay, bye." She said before turning back to her book.

**Next afternoon. . . .**

Sakura walked up to Sasuke in the training grounds. He was leaning against a tree with his eyes closed. Sakura couldn't help but take this chance to catch him off guard. She smirked as she silently took out a kunai and threw it at his head. Without even opening his eyes, Sasuke moved his head only an inch to the right, dodging the kunai easily.

Sasuke opened his eyes and smirked, "You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?"

Sakura frowned, "Show off." She said under her breath.

Sasuke pushed against the tree and walked towards her, "I don't think we've ever sparred."

"We haven't, I've never been strong enough to be any match against you." She said, looking down.

"Well, now you are and now we will." And with that he began to pull out his katana.

Sakura smiled at his recognition and pulled out her own katana's and before she knew it, Sasuke vanished and reappeared behind her with his blade at her neck.

"Was I wrong Sakura?"

Sakura smirked, "I don't think so Sasuke." She grabbed his wrist and hit a pressure point causing him to let go. She took this opportunity and flipped behind him, freeing herself. When she was back on solid ground, she started to do some hand signs. Sakura began to run towards the forest, hoping to get him in a thicker area.

Sasuke watched her run towards the tree line and smiled. All of a sudden snakes came out of his sleeves and wrapped around Sakura's body, stopping her from going any further. Sakura cringed when she noticed what was around her. She hated when Sasuke used his snakes, especially on her. It reminded her too much of that monster Orochimaru.

"Stop running Sakura and fight." Sasuke called as the snakes receded back into his sleeves.

"Ugh, just as long as you never use those things on me again." She said fiercely, then began to run at him with both ninjato's in hand.

Sasuke's grip tightened on his katana. Then they clashed, Sakura was using both her speed jutsu and strength. Sasuke's eyes glowed crimson as he followed her moves and marveled how graceful she made fighting look. He was both thankful and pissed he used his sharingan on her. Thankful because without it, he wouldn't be able to keep up with her speed. And he was pissed because with his sharingan, everything is intensified, so he could see every little thing he wished he couldn't. It was extremely distracting. Like the way Sakura's eyes glowed fiercely as she parried, or the way the sweat drops slid down her chest into her shirt.

Sakura sliced through his shoulder, "It would help if you paid attention and stopped starring at my chest Sasuke."

"Hn."

They fought like this until finally Sasuke pinned Sakura face first up against a tree with her hands behind her back and his katana against her neck.

"I think that's it." He whispered into her ear.

"Ugh, then you can let me go then." She rasped against the tree. Sasuke turned her around so she was facing him and bent down to say something in her ear.

"You did better than I expected Sakura. You truly have gotten stronger over the years." He whispered, then bent down and left a light kiss on her neck. Sakura gasped when she felt this.

"Sasuke. . ." she breathed.

Sasuke looked up to be met with two glazed over emerald eyes. He bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips, testing her reaction at the contact. She was surprised at first, but then her emotions overcame her. She put her hand behind his neck, making the kiss deeper. Sasuke put one hand on her back, pulling her closer into him and began to caress her cheek with the other. As Sasuke leaned into her, Sakura let out a small moan. She then pulled away, looking at the blood on her hand from the wound on his shoulder.

"I. . .I should heal that. It looks deep." She managed to mumble.

"It's fine." He rasped in a hoarse voice.

"No, I need to heal it." She pushed him back so she was free.

Once she was done healing Sasuke's arm, he decided to walk her home. Both kept silent, but it was a comfortable silence. Then they were finally at her front door.

Sakura smiled, "Thanks for training with me. You just reminded me I still need to get stronger."

"Hn. Your strong enough."

"You can never be strong enough." Sakura laughed, not believing she was saying this to Sasuke Uchiha, the man who betrayed his whole village just to get stronger.

"Ironic." He whispered, thinking the same thing as Sakura.

He then began to move towards her, pinning her to the wall. She gave a small gasp of surprise, but didn't struggle. Once again he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. When Sakura felt the warmth from his lips leave her own, she leaned forward to find them again. Sasuke did not hesitate for a second to give her what she wanted. He kissed her soundly once again, moving his hands to her waist and feeling her own wrap around his neck. Sasuke smiled inwardly, feeling her shudder as he slipped his tongue into her mouth, wanting to taste her. He moved one hand to the back of her neck to deepen the kiss. Sakura let out a breathy moan as she ran her fingers through his soft raven locks.

After what seemed like an eternity, they broke apart for a breath of air. Panting, they were both thinking the same thing: 'If this goes any further, I won't be able to stop.' Sakura's hands slipped from Sasuke's neck and his fell to his side.

"It's late-"

"I should go-" They say simultaneously.

Sakura moved over to her door and gave him a sad smile, "Good night Sasuke."

"Hn." And with that he disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Sakura behind her door.

When Sakura got settled in, she started to run herself a bath.

"I'm not ready for a relationship. I've gone through enough pain to last me a few lifetimes." Sakura whispered sadly. "I mean, what if he does the same th-"

**No! **Inner Sakura interrupted. **Don't you dare even start to compare Sasuke to **_**him.**_

"No, I'm not. I know Sasuke would never. . .intentionally hurt me. Again. It's just. . .every time I begin to truly care for someone, truly love them, they always seem to betray me. Sasuke did it once before, how do I know he wont do it again. I'm not ready to drop my guard and give into my feelings just to get betrayed and hurt again, no matter who it is and how well I think I know him." Involuntarily, tears began to slide down her cheeks and drop into the murky bath water as she began to remember what happened while she was on her mission.

**Flashback. . .**

"I am very glad to have such a wonderful kunoichi as yourself to be the one protecting me from this unknown assassin for the next few years Sakura." Said an old man walking next to a seventeen year old Sakura.

"Thank you Morihashi-sama. It's an honor to be serving under you." Sakura said sweetly.

Morihashi chuckled at how innocent Sakura still was. He pondered this while stroking his long white beard. Even after Sakura just demonstrated her super-human strength for him, he could still scantly believe it. Such power and strength coming from such a small, petite girl. Morihashi broke his train of thought when he saw a tall muscular figure walking towards himself and Sakura.

"Ichiro, what perfect timing." Morihashi said, beckoning his son over with a wave. "Son, this is Sakura Haruno, the Konoha medic-nin." He said, motioning towards her. "Sakura, this is my son Ichiro."

Both Sakura and Ichiro made their greetings, but Sakura had to use everything she had not to stare at him. He had a sharp, chiseled face, sparkling green eyes, auburn colored hair, and a lean muscular body.

"Is there anything I can help you with father, to get Sakura more situated in our home?" Ichiro asked his father, never taking his eyes off the blushing kunoichi in front of him.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, there is. Would you please show her to her rooms? I'm an old man and do not look forward to climbing all those steps." Morihashi said, rubbing his back dramatically, then gave Sakura a small wink.

"Of course father, you go rest." He said before turning to Sakura. "Just follow me and I'll show you to your rooms."

Ichiro was halfway down the corridor before Sakura noticed he'd left. Once she caught up to him, she saw he was in deep thought, as if he was having an inner war with himself, trying to decide something crucial. They walked the whole length to her room in silence until they came to a large door at the end of the hall on the fourth floor. He stopped and began to dig in his pocket for something.

"Damnit, I know I had it." He rasped under his breath, searching his other pocket now. "Aha! Here you are." He said triumphantly, holding up a key, then looked down at Sakura, "Sorry about that."

When Ichiro finally opened up the door, Sakura couldn't help but gasp. It was huge!

"This is our guest rooms. You'll have your own bedroom, kitchen, living room, and bathroom. It's like having your own apartment I guess. Now, even though you have your own kitchen and bathroom you're still more than welcome to ask the chef for anything and we have a bath house in the court yard if you want to take a relaxing bath. Also, our servants are now yours as well, so don't hesitate to ask for anything at all. Um, if you need us, my room is just down the hall three doors to the left. My father's is on the first floor. I'll show you where it is tomorrow I guess. So, um, any questions?"

"Umm, no this is all great. Thank you Ichiro." Sakura said, barely over a whisper.

"It's the least I can do for the woman who's protecting my father." He said graciously, then moved to sit on the couch. "So what do you think?" he asked, referring to the rooms.

"Well compared to what I usually stay in during missions, this is amazing." She answered, walking around and examining everything.

Ichiro chuckled, "So, you're a real leaf nin huh?"

Sakura stopped what she was doing and pinched her arm, "Yeah, seems I'm real enough."

He laughed at her, "So what's it like there?"

Sakura thought for a second, "Well, it's one of the most beautiful villages I've ever been in. The people are pretty friendly, unless you bump into a chunnin who just got guard duty."

"What about your family and friends?" he asked, clearly interested in her life back at home.

"My father died when I was young and my mother never wanted me to become a ninja. She's all the family I've got. And my team? Well when I was twelve I was put in a three man cell. Our sensei was Kakashi Hatake.-'"

"Wait a minute. Thee Kakashi Hatake?" he asked, stunned.

"Yeah, but he really didn't teach me anything, just moral stuff. He was always concentrating on my other two teammates. . . Or reading his porn."

Ichiro just raised his eyebrow, "And you're other teammates? What were they like?"

"Well, another one is Naruto Uzumaki. He. . . he is the most loud, obnoxious, unpredictable, hyperactive, knuckleheaded ninja Konoha has to offer. But he's strong and has a heart bigger than the village itself. He has a special gift to change people and reach their hearts somehow. And he will, without a doubt, become the next Hokage. . . Oh, and he's obsessed with ramen."

"Ramen?" he said with a smirk.

"Yeah."

"And your last teammate?"

The smile slipped off Sakura's face, "Sasuke. . . Sasuke Uchiha is his name."

"Uchiha? I thought the Uchiha's were all murdered by one of their own. Was he the one to kill them all?"

"Haha, no. It was Sasuke's older brother Itachi. Sasuke is the soul survivor of the Uchiha massacre. Ever since that day, he's been so cold, so isolated and vowed revenge on his brother. We were only in Team 7 for about a year before Sasuke betrayed us to gain power from Orochimaru." She shivered at the thought of the monster. "He was there for two and a half years before he thought he 'killed' him. So he eventually killed Itachi with the help of a team he created called Hebi and returned to the village about a month ago. He's still not the same Sasuke I used to know. He's awkward to be around. . . " she said as her voice trailed off as she began to think about Sasuke.

"Did you love him?" Ichiro asked, curious.

Sakura looked down, "I wish I didn't."

Ichiro gave a sad smile, "Well, I myself have never been in love, but I know enough to know that you can never choose who you love, but you can bury those feelings away and try to move on."

Sakura looked up at him stunned, "He, your right."

**End Flashback**

"I trusted him more than anything. I loved him more than anyone else. That first day I met him, he knew he would one day betray me. He knew what he was starting, what he was getting himself into when he walked into my room and started asking me all those questions. But that didn't stop him, not even after I told him about Sasuke and what he did to me. He didn't care whether I got hurt or not. Whether I lived or died. As long as he went through with his plan and I didn't get in his way. . ."

Sakura stepped out of the tub, dried herself off, got dressed, and laid down in bed. She let one more tear fall to her pillow before whipping them all away. She took a deep breath before whispering to herself, "No, I won't fall victim to heartbreak again."

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Sakuraaaaa."

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Sakura! You in there? Wake up!"

Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Saku-"

Sakura opened the door and grabbed hold of Naruto's throat before he even got to finish saying her name.

"Naruto," she said with so much venom in her voice it made him stop struggling. "What the hell do you think your doing banging on my door at eight o'clock in the morning on my. Day. Off!?"

The now blue Naruto began to gape like a fish out of water, trying to give her an answer, but had no air to do so. On seeing this, Sakura let him go but was still staring at him fiercely.

Naruto took a deep breath before replying, "Sorry about that." Then he gave his signature grin and began to rub the back of his head. "You mind if I come in?"

Sakura considered leaving him out there for a second but then rolled her eyes and stepped to the side to let him in.

"Okay, now you can explain yourself."

"Old lady Tsunade summoned us to her office. We have a mission!" he said excitedly.

"Oh, okay." She said simply while turning towards her room to get dressed. But before she rounded the corner into her bedroom, she turned to face Naruto with a smile, "And Naruto, just so you know, the next time you wake me up again like that, I won't let go. Got it?"

Naruto just gulped and nodded his head. He knew doing otherwise would get him a broken nose. Sakura had never been a morning person when they were younger, and this just proved that she still wasn't. He knew that it was very dangerous and stupid to upset Sakura in the morning before she got to do her meditation routine that helped her wake up, relax, and control her temper. Which thankfully, Naruto heard her doing now.

It only took twenty minutes until they were out the door on their way to the Hokage's office. Naruto just kept babbling on about how there's a new flavor of ramen at Ichiraku's, and Sakura listened absentmindly, thinking of other things.

"Naruto?" she said suddenly.

"Huh?"

"You know who all's going on this mission?"

Naruto grinned happily, "Yeah."

"Who?"

"Team 7! It's gonna be the first time we all went on a mission together since before Sasuke left."

"Oh, wow. Do you know anything about it yet?"

"Um, no. But I did hear that Tsunade's been in a bad mood lately. Maybe it has something to do with that."

"Great." She said sarcastically.

By now they were walking through the doors into the Jounin headquarters. Both of them stopped and looked around. There were dozens of chunnin and Jounin running around looking worried. It was pandemonium. But the weird thing was, whenever someone caught sight of Sakura, they gave her a sympathetic look.

"Oh no, it's me! She's mad at me." Sakura began to panic.

"Well then come on," Naruto said, taking her hand and began to drag her down the circular hallway quickly. "It won't make things better if you're late."

Sakura groaned.

"Sakura." Someone called from up ahead. It was Kakashi. "Where have you two been?"

"We didn't know it was urgent." She mumbled. "Do we have to go in now?"

"No, Shizune is in there now. We'll go in when she comes out."

And just then the door opens and Shizune comes out cursing under her breath. She stopped when saw Sakura.

"Let's hope you get off as easily as you did last time Sakura." She said calmly.

"So it is me?" she asked quietly.

"I'm afraid so." She said, then walked off.

Sasuke knocked on the door.

"Come in." a harsh voice answered from the other side. The four of them walked in (Sakura last). Tsunade didn't even look up from her desk when she pointed at Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi and said, "You three, out. Sakura, you stay."

The guys looked at each other then at Sakura. Naruto went up to her, rubbed her arm, and gave her an encouraging smile before he left and shut the door behind himself.

Once they were gone, Sakura looked up at her sensei. Tsunade was sitting at her cracked desk, eyes closed, and fingertips together. She was breathing in hard, obviously trying to control herself from lashing out and breaking something. Sakura stood there for a while before Tsunade spoke.

"I got news last night Sakura, about a man going from village to village searching for someone, and if that someone is not there, he kills the women and children and heads to the next village." She said slowly, not even looking up. Sakura just looked at her confused.

"Is this about our mission?"

Tsunade looked up, "Yes. I want you to track this man down and kill him. . . Oh but, this should be quite easy for you Sakura, seeing how you were already given the mission to find and kill the assassin who wanted Kazuma Morihashi dead. Though you failed in doing so!" By now Tsunade had walked around her desk and was face to face with her apprentice.

When Sakura heard this, her breath caught in her throat. She stared at Tsunade before whispering a small, "Sensei. . . I did kill him-"

"No," Tsunade cut her off, "You didn't."

Sakura felt her knees begin to give away, so she walked over to the chair and sat down. Her brows were together and she stared at the floor, deep in thought.

"No," she finally whispered. "No, that's imposable. I know for a fact that that was him. I killed him. I brought his body back. You did the autopsy yourself and declared the body to be Ichiro Morihashi. . . " she looked up at Tsunade with pleading eyes.

Tsunade looked away, "I was wrong."

"No." Sakura whispered to herself.

"Sakura." She sat down in the chair across from Sakura. "Did you know Ichiro had an identical twin brother named Izumo?"

"Yes, but he's been dead since they were fifteen. Why do you ask?"

Tsunade sighed.

"They had been planning to kill their father for quite a long time. My guess is that they faked Izumo's death. But what I absolutely know is that you did kill one of them. You killed Izumo."

"So your telling me. . . that Ichiro is still alive and is looking for his father?" she managed to say.

"Yes."

Sakura was now trying to hold in the flood of tears waiting to be released. Her entire body was shaking from both anger and anxiety. Finally, Sakura screamed out in fury and punched the closest thing in her reach, which happened to be Tsunade's desk. The desk shattered in millions of pieces easily, leaving Sakura's fists splintered and bloody. Then she fell to her knees crying.

"I thought I killed him once. I don't think I can do it again." She sobbed. "I can't kill the man I once loved twice. It's just too much."

Tsunade bent down next to her and rubbed her back in an attempt to comfort her. Tsunade's not a very sensitive person.

"I know Sakura," she said softly. "But I think it would be best if you were the one to finish this yourself."

"No, you don't know. Think of how it would feel like if you were to kill Dan. Not once, but twice!" she argued.

Tsunade froze at the sound of Dan's name, "I would be killing myself as well." She whispered.

"Now you understand."

"Oh Sakura." She said, then hugged Sakura. "I'm sorry. I truly am. But Ichiro's changed his appearance and no one knows what he looks like now. That's why you need to go on this mission, to find him. Though he, most likely will come to you."

Sakura looked up with red puffy eyes, "I'll go."

"That's my girl." Tsunade said happily then stood up and looked around her office and sighed. "You really did a toe on my desk."

This brought a smile to Sakura's face. She was now sitting in a chair and was attempting to wipe her tear stained face. Tsunade walked over to the door and opened it to see Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi standing across the hall looking way too innocent.

"You three can come in now."

The guys walked in to see millions of small pieces of wood all over the floor, no desk, and Sakura sitting in a chair facing away from them with a green glow over her hand, healing it.

_Seems Sakura was the one to shatter the desk. _Saskue thought to himself. _I wonder what happened. We couldn't hear a word they were saying. Tsunade must have put a jutsu around this room._

"Sakura, are you alright?" Naruto asked concerned when he saw she was crying and her hand was still bloody.

Sakura gave him a reassuring smile, "Yeah, it's just a little scratch."

"I'm not talking about your hand. Why were you crying?"

Sakura's smile slid from her face quickly. "It's a long story Naruto." She said, looking down.

"Oh, okay." He said sadly then looked up at the Hokage to see what was going on. Sakura was so grateful that Naruto had never been one to push a subject that was visibly painful.

"Now," Tsunade's voice rang through the silent room. "To tell you about your mission."

"Tsunade-sensei. . ." Sakura looked up with pleading eyes that asked not to tell them about her past relationship with their target. Tsunade knew exactly what she was silently asking her and nodded her head before turning back to the others. Both Sasuke and Kakashi caught the two small motions from the kunoichi's and was wondering what Sakura wanted Tsunade to keep from them.

After an hour of Tsunade explaining what the mission was, they all left. Naruto walked out, jumping with excitement, Sasuke looked both bored and annoyed, Kakashi just read his book, and Sakura left last, deep in thought. She barely even noticed that someone was calling her.

"Sakura. Sakura! You alright? What'd she say to you? You've been acting strange." Naruto asked.

"Huh?"

"Are you alright?" he repeated, looking worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine Naruto. Don't worry about me." She said, giving him one of her fake smiles.

"If you say so. . . I'm goin' home. See you guy's tomorrow." He said, giving one last look at Sakura before walking away.

Kakashi just waved and disappeared.

Sakura turned around to leave but Sasuke grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "Are you sure you're alright Sakura?"

"Like I told Naruto, I'm fine." She answered, getting annoyed by the question and pulled her wrist out of his grip and began to walk away again. "If you want some lunch you come back to my apartment. I'm cooking." She called over her shoulder.

"Hn"

When they got to Sakura's apartment, Sasuke followed her into the small kitchen and sat down at the table.

"What are you making?"

"I don't have much of anything now, I need to go grocery shopping. So I guess were having rice balls and. . .pork ramen."

"Can I help with anything?"

"No, you can just sit on the couch and make yourself at home." She said with a smile.

"Hn."

He did as he was told and sat down on the couch.

Sakura just stood there, staring at the opposite wall, reminiscing about what she just said.

_He said that once. Ichiro did. When he was making me dinner one night. _She thought, tears began streaming down her cheeks. She turned and leaned her head on the counter, trying to muffle her sobs so Sasuke wouldn't know she was crying. . . Too late.

Sasuke touched her shoulder to let her know he was there. She turned around to wrap her arms around his waist and began to cry into his chest. Sasuke just held her close to him and let her melt into his arms. After a while Sasuke pulled away to meet her eyes. He cupped her face in his hands and began wiping the tears away with his thumbs, never breaking eye contact.

Sakura lifted her hand and touched his cheek softly. Slowly, he leaned forward and brushed his lips ever so softly against her own. He trailed smell butterfly kisses over her tear stained cheeks.

Sasuke paused to look down at her. Sakura reached up to meet his lips without hesitation. Her lips were soft beneath his, and warm, and every bit as delicious as he remembered them to be from the night before. For a moment, time itself seemed to stop, and Sasuke lost himself in the feel of her lips against his own.

Without warning, the passion that had simmered between them erupted. He pulled her tight against him. Her mouth opened to his and his tongue met hers.

Sakura tasted of all things exotic and intoxicating. And kissing her would not be nearly enough.

His lips left hers and trailed along the edge of her jaw and down the curve of her neck. Sakura's head dropped back, and she braced her hands on the table behind her. He kissed the hollow of her throat. She gasped. It had been so long since she had been touched like this, kissed like this. She was tired of fantasizing and remembering. She wanted something, no someone real.

Sakura shuttered beneath his touch. "Sasuke. . .Sasuke please." Her plea was but a sigh or a breath.

Sasuke stopped his trail of kisses underneath her earlobe and looked up to see what she was asking from him. One glance into her eyes told him exactly what she wanted.

"Are you sure?" he asked seriously.

"Yes, yes Sasuke. Please. . . ."

That was all Sasuke needed before his lips crushed hers with an unyielding demand of passion. Sakura's mouth opened between his and his tongue met hers, intent and greedy.

Sasuke lifted her up so she was now sitting on the table with him between her open legs. All without barely breaking their kiss, both Sasuke's and Sakura's shirts were lying in a pile on the floor.

Her hands roamed over his back. His lips explored her neck, her shoulders, her throat. Sakura dropped her head back and arched upward towards him. Sasuke's erection brushed against her inner thigh. Sakura let out a small moan of desire and anticipation.

Sasuke cupped a breast in one hand while holding her firmly against himself with the other. He bent to take a nipple in his mouth. He sucked and teased, tongue and teeth, toying with the sensitive flesh. Waves of pleasure rippled from his touch. Sakura gripped his shoulders and moaned softly. He shifted his attention to the other breast, and she wondered how long it would be until she melted into a puddle at his feet.

Suddenly, Sakura felt herself being lifted up and felt both her training shorts and underwear being slid off. He didn't even bother with the skirt, just lifted it up to her waist. Sasuke dropped to his knees. He tenderly kissed her inner thigh, gradually working his way further up until he landed a gentle kiss on her sex. He spread her legs wider before taking her sensitive bud into his mouth. Sakura gave a small cry and her lags began to tremble in spasms. She ran her fingers through his raven hair, urging him on.

Sasuke slid two fingers into her sopping wet core, marveling how hot it was. Sakura arched into his touch and let out a loud moan.

"Sasuke please!" she gasped, trying to pull him up to her level. She couldn't take this anymore. It was torture.

Once he was standing, Sakura quickly undid his pants, letting them fall to the floor. Sasuke grabbed his hardened member and pulled it through the hole in his boxers. He began to position himself at the entrance to her throbbing core. Sasuke was only a second away from lunging himself into her when they heard someone bang on the front door, calling for Sakura.

Both Sasuke and Sakura let out a **very** frustrated groan and pulled away form each other.

"You've got to be kidding." Sakura said under her breath. Hurriedly Sasuke and Sakura scrambled to gather their clothes. Once Sasuke had all his, he headed for Sakura's bedroom. Sakura was rushing to try to put all her clothes on the right way, her head was still groggy with passion.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

"Open the damn door Forehead! Shit, what are you doing in there in anyw-" Sakura opened the door.

"What the hell do you want Ino?" she asked, extremely annoyed.

"Damn Forehead, what were you doing in there? I've been knocking out here for like ten minutes now." Ino complained.

"Your overreacting Ino-pig. It was more like three. And I was packing for my mission tomorrow."

"Oh, okay." She said, finding that to be a plausible excuse. "Well anyway, the reason I'm here is because Hokage-sama wanted you to return some medical scrolls. She said you would know what she was talking about. She said she wanted to see them on her desk in ten minutes."

"And how long ago did she say that?" Sakura asked angrily.

"Oh, about eight minutes ago."

"Shit."

Sakura ran into her room to find Sasuke fully dressed and sitting on the edge of her bed with the old picture of Team 7 in his hand.

"Ino has always been one for bad timing. I'm sorry." She said, looking down. Sasuke set the picture down and in a flash pinned her against the wall.

"Don't apologize." He said before kissing her passionately. Sakura was the one who broke the kiss.

"I have to give some scrolls back to Tsunade. She'll probably keep me there the entire day."

"Hn. Then I'll see you tomorrow." He said lightly, gave her one last kiss, then disappeared.

Sakura sighed, grabbed the scrolls, and walked out into the hallway, "Lets go."

They both left through the front door, on their way to the Jounin headquarters.

"What's up with you? You seem annoyed and flushed." Ino asked concerned.

"Nothing."

_Damnit Ino! Why now? Why then? We were so close. I almost had what I have wanted for so long._ She thought, blushing at the memory. _But_ _maybe it was a good thing that she interrupted._

_

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_

(A/N) Ok finally done. I hope you guys don't hate me for the last part but I'll make up for it in a later chapter. This was a really long chap because I had to put 2 chaps in one and this is what it turned out to be. Well you finally know a little about her mission, but it's the next chapter that you'll get to meet Ichiro! (and Selena you'll get what you want. lol).

**Next chapter: Nightmares**

Please review!!!!!!!!! I really like this chapter and I want to know what you guys think about it.


	7. Nightmares

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

_**Warning**_**: this chapter included rape, so if you're really immature or under 15, just skip over the part and read on. (I say 15 and not 18 b/c I'm 15 and I would be contradicting myself if I advised people under 18 not to read the rape part when I myself am the one who wrote it). But anyways, enjoy the chapter!!! **

**Chapter 7: Nightmares**

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"Ichiro-sama, going from village to village looking for your father is futile. She isn't stupid enough to hide him in villages like this. We're never going to find him if we keep searching this way."

Ichiro looked down at the man on the floor, shaking with fear. No one had ever questioned Ichiro and lived to prove their point. This man would probably be no different. Ichiro just frowned.

"Futile you say?" he said in a deep voice.

"Y-yes. We wont get anywhere just by l-looking for him." The man on the floor stuttered weakly.

"And what do you propose we do Jin?"

"I-I think we should find her, or someone else who knows where your father is, and make them tell us."

Ichiro stood up and began to walk around the small dark room and chuckled, "No, no you see that's quite impossible. There are a few drawbacks hat your thick head hasn't taken the time to look over. . . the only people who know the whereabouts of my father is Sakura and the Hokage herself. Now dealing with the Hokage is too troublesome, and Sakura, for one, is as strong as myself, but the main reason I'm not going to use her is because of her team. She's got a Jinchuriki, an Uchiha, and the Copy-ninja who are all willing to die on her behalf. So now Jin, are there any other plans you haven't thought out all the way that you would like to waist my time with?" Ichiro stopped right in front of Jin, who was on his knees looking wide-eyed at the wall behind Ichiro.

"N-no Ichiro-sama. I'm finished." He said monotonously.

"Good, because you talk too much."

Then in a blink of an eye, Jin's head was rolling across the floor and Ichiro was sheathing one of his katana's, already at the door. He turned around to address the other men in the room.

"Clean up the mess. Not even a whore house like this deserves that kind of filth to be on the floor. Once you're done, pick a whore and have a good night. Just make sure your ready by eight o'clock tomorrow morning."

The men beamed and chanted in unison, "Yes Ichiro-sama. Thank you." Then began to discard Jin's body and clean up the blood.

Ichiro then walked out into the hallway deep in thought. Jin had a point. Searching and raiding villages like this was futile. This was the eighth village they've searched, but to no avail. He would need to find a different solution.

_I hate when those who defy me are right._ He thought to himself as he came up to the door he was told belonged to the most beautiful girl in the whore house. Ichiro walked in and couldn't agree with the mistress. There was a girl of about sixteen, sitting on the edge of the bed. She had long, sleek black hair, olive skin, green eyes, and a petite form.

She looked up and smiled at Ichiro, probably happy to see a handsome man instead of the fat, hairy, ugly men she usually had to service. Most good looking men didn't need a whore.

Ichiro walked over to her and took a strand of her silky hair in between two fingers and spoke softly, "What's your name?"

"Akio." She answered in a small voice.

"Hm, Akio. Take off your robe and lay back." He said firmly. She did as she was told and was now laying naked on the bed. She was still small, not fully matured yet. Her breasts were grapes compared to. . .

"Sakura." He whispered to himself. Akio heard him but knew better than to question him about his personal life. Ichiro stripped down to only his boxers and climbed on top of her. He was becoming extremely frustrated that he was thinking of Sakura now. But how could he not? He hadn't had sex since the last time they were together. He had a fair amount of sexual frustration that he would have to let out on this poor girl.

Ichiro positioned himself before slamming into the small girl, making her cringe and cry out in pain. Not even caring if he hurt her, he continuously jerked himself inside her, only caring for his own pleasures. Akio was withering under him in pain, trying to push him off. He eventually got annoyed and pinned her arms above her head and began thrashing harder, making her bleed.

"Please! Please, stop!" she gasped.

He held both her wrists in one hand and began to grab one of her small breasts with the other. He pulled, squeezed, and twisted, making sure to leave dark bruises.

Finally she climaxed, though she never felt any pleasure when she was almost unconscious from the pain that coursed throughout her entire body with every thrust. Only a few thrusts later, Ichiro released himself inside her and let out a harsh moan. "Sakura!" then he collapsed on top of her, not able to move.

"No! No, get off me. Get the fuck off me!" she whimpered, while trying to push him away.

"You'll say like this as long as I want." He answered carelessly.

"The hell I will you fucking bastard!"

"I said you'll do as I say Sakura. . ."

"I'm not fucking Sakura! You've been calling me that the whole time." She spat as she finally got the stunned man off her. Akio stumbled over to her robe and covered herself, then tried to get to the door, but the pain was too intense. She fell back to the floor, holding a hand between her thighs, attempting to ease the pain.

"What the hell did you do to me?" she cried.

Ichiro, who had already collected himself, sat on the bed fully dressed and chuckled, "I did what probably every man in this pathetic village has done-"

"You bastard! Don't you dare talk about me as if I'm a piece of trash. I'm a human being!"

"No, you're just a whore. If you didn't like getting fucked, then why are you here? You shouldn't complai-"

"How dare you!"

Ichiro frowned, then sighed, "I see. You're just head-strong. Hm, what is it with me and head-strong women?" he asked himself.

"What, was that Sakura girl head-strong? If she was and if you loved her, I hope she dumped your ass. I hope she broke your heart. I hope she-"

Before she could even utter the next word, Akio's head hit the ground. Ichiro just looked at her for awhile before turning to leave.

"You talk too much too."

* * *

It was nearly mid-night until Tsunade let Sakura leave to go home. She wanted Sakura to help file missions and fill out some papers so she could 'get her mind off the mission tomorrow.' Ha, more like,' I don't feel like doing all this work so I'm going to have you and Shizune do it for me.'

By the time she got back to her apartment, Sakura was done. It had been a very long and . . . eventful day. She was worn out physically, mentally, and emotionally and she just wanted to go to sleep.

Not even changing into her pajamas, Sakura fell onto her bed and curled up under her comforter. Almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out. She quickly fell into a deep sleep, dreaming of her own personal nightmare. . . .

**Dream/flashback**

Sakura was crouching on the ground in a forest clearing, trying to catch her breath. She had beads of sweat trickling down her face and arms, and her body was shaking from exhaustion.

"If you really want to learn this technique Sakura, you'll have to increase your stamina." A man said from behind her

"I know that Ichiro." She rasped in between breaths.

He sighed, "Here, have a drink of water. You don't want to dehydrate." He said softly while sitting next to her and handing her a canteen of water.

"Thank you." She said before drinking the whole thing. Once she was done, she looked over at Ichiro to find him smirking at her.

"What?"

"You really have come far. I think once you get the basics technique and skills of twin ninjato's, you'll be able to learn the jutsu's easily. You seem to be a quick learner." Ichiro told her with a confident smile.

"Thank you. That really means a lot coming from you Ichiro." Sakura mumbled, turning to try to hide her blush.

**New memory**

Sakura lay on her back, once again trying to catch her breath. She felt a hand grab her naked waist to turn her on her side so she was facing the man she was in bed with.

Ichiro turned over on his side so that he was facing Sakura and put his forehead against her own. He pulled her body closer against his so that their bare flesh touched each others. He brought his hand up to move her bangs out of her face.

"I love you." He whispered out of nowhere.

Sakura just smiled and nuzzled into his neck, "I know. I love you too."

**New memory**

Sakura was in Ichiro's room, waiting on him. She's sitting on the couch reading Icha Icha Tactics when she notice's a missing floorboard. She looks inside to find blue prints of the house and scrolls with different times, dates, and methods. . . of killing his father.

"I was hoping you wouldn't see the floorboard. I was in a rush and was careless enough to forget to put it back." A voice said from behind Sakura, making her jump.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, trying to understand what was going on.

"You? You're the assassin? You're the one who wants to kill your father?" she whispered in disbelief.

"Apparently so." Ichiro sighed, then sat down on the couch with his head in his hands. "Damnit Sakura!" he yelled, making her drop the scrolls and look at him in fear. "Why did you have to find out? Why?" he whispered more to himself than to her.

"What do you mean?"

He looked down at her with sad, regretful eyes, "If you would have never found out, we could have stayed together. You see my plan was just to kill my father then go back to Konoha with you where we could get married and someday have a family of our own. . . . but obviously my plan didn't work out that way."

"So your telling me that even though you knew I was supposed to kill you, you still let us… You still…" she let out a sigh, "Everything you did, everything you said was a lie."

"No Sakura, not everything. I told you I love you, and that was the truth. It was selfish and stupid of me to get too close to you. But don't you remember what I told you the first day we met?"

"You can never choose who you love." She cried. Ichiro walked over to Sakura to try and comfort her.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled as he tried to hug her. "Stop, I said don't fucking touch me!" yet he still tried to hold her.

"Just give me one more night." He rasped in her ear.

After the shock of what he said faded, her anger surfaced and she started swinging at him, focusing her chakra to her fists. All of a sudden she felt a sharp pain in her neck and her chakra deplete. Putting a hand to her neck, she found a chi needle sticking out of it. This would explain the pain and chakra block. Sakura glared at him with fierce eyes.

"I would rather kill myself than give my body to you again!" she spat.

"It wasn't a question Sakura." He said simply, before pinning her to the couch and taking just what he wanted…. One more night.

**End Dream/flashback**

Sakura woke up with a jerk. She was covered in a cold sweat and out of breath. Wiping the sweat off her forehead, she contemplated her dreams. One of her training sessions with Ichiro, the day she lost her virginity and Ichiro told her he loved her, and the day she found out about his true intentions and raped her.

Sakura shook her head trying to get the image out of her mind.

"That's the last thing I want, or need to be thinking about right now." She told herself while getting out of bed. It was already around six o'clock, so she needed to get up anyway.

After taking a shower, getting dressed and packing for her mission, she headed to the kitchen to make some breakfast. Everything was untouched from yesterday when she was going to make Sasuke lunch. She smiled at the memory.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard someone tapping on her front door quietly, hissing her name.

"Sakuraaaaa," a voice whispered. Sakura smiled and shook her head before opening up the door to find Naruto with his face near the crack. Once he saw Sakura he instantly regained his cheesy grin.

"Can I come in?"

"You're so sweet Naruto," she said, moving so he could walk in. "You didn't bang on my door today. You remembered."

"Yeah, I don't have a death wish today." He answered with a wink. "So you wanna get some ramen before we have to leave for the mission?"

"Sure, but your paying. Let me get my stuff." She said, then went to her room and grabbed her bag and medic pouch.

"Alright, lets go."

Once they got to Ichiraku's, Naruto ordered five bowels of pork ramen and Sakura just ordered some miso soup. Sakura could see Naruto examining her out of the corner of his eye.

"What?" she asked, looking at him.

Naruto gave a serious look before shaking his head, "Nothing. So how have you been?"

"What do you mean 'how have I been?' you see me almost every day Naruto. You know how I've been."

"Yeah Sakura, I see you. That doesn't mean we talk. I mean when was the last time we actually sat down and talked? Huh?" he questioned with quizzical eyes.

Sakura raised her eyebrow, "We talk."

"Name the last time."

"…."

"Exactly. We had gotten so close when I came back from training with Ero-sannin and before you left for that damn mission. I just want things to be the way they were. I want to get to know you again." He finished sadly.

Sakura looked at his through tear filled eyes. She then lunged at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, "I'm so sorry Naruto. I didn't know you felt like that. It's just I've changed so much since back then that I'm afraid you wont like me, or you'll be disappointed because things aren't the same." She cried into his shoulder.

"Hehe. The only way you've changed is that your stronger now. . . and you read Icha Icha." He said, trying to cheer her up. Sakura looked up from his shoulder shocked.

"Y-you know about that?" she asked, starting to feel her face heat up.

Naruto began to rub the back of his head and laugh nervously, "Hehe, well Jiraya kinda saw you in the hot springs alone one night reading it." He said, backing away out of her reach. "But once I found out he was peeping on you I kicked his ass. Trust me! And I swear I haven't told a soul. Tough I think Sasuke-teme already knows. But I didn't tell him!" he yelled quickly, trying to explain.

Sakura just looked at him and smiled, "Was that when Jiraya came into the hospital a couple weeks ago with a broken arm and cracked ribs but Tsunade-sensei refused to heal him and forbade anyone else from doing so too?" she asked with a grin.

Naruto smiled, "Yup, that was me." He said proudly. "Though he ended up meeting a girl in a bar who happened to be a medic and had her heal him."

"Hmph, and what did she get out of it?"

"A one-night-stand with one of the legendary Sannin" Naruto answered, looking discussed.

"Ugh, gross." Sakura whispered, shivering at the thought. "So you don't think I'm a total pervert do you?"

"Of course I do. I just don't have a problem with it. Ow!" Naruto cried, holding the top of his head in pain.

"Come on baka, we should be meeting the others at the gate soon." She said, picking up her bags and walking off.

"Okay." Naruto groaned.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura stood, waiting at the gates for half an hour before they saw Sakuke walking towards them slowly with his hands in his pockets, looking bored. Sakura blushed at the sight of him, remembering the day before. She just hoped it wouldn't be awkward.

"Sasuke-teme, you're late!" Naruot yelled, pointing an accusing finger at his teammate.

"It's five 'till eight dobe, I'm still on time." He mumbled.

"Don't call me dobe!" Naruto yelled.

"Don't call me teme."

"Teme!"

"Dobe."

"Ow!!" they cried together as Sakura punched them both to shut up.

"Ugh, you two act like your still twelve. Grow up!" she yelled, not in the mood to hear their bickering.

"Okay, but you didn't have to hit us." Naruto whined as tears streamed down his face.

"Hn." Sasuke answered, rubbing the back of his head, frowning.

"What did you two do this time?"

They all turned around to find Kakashi leaning against a tree, reading his book.

"They were arguing like children." She answered.

"Hm." Kakashi closed his book and took a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Here Sakura, Hokage-sama wanted me to give this to you. She said read it before we leave." He said, handing her the paper.

Sakura read through the short letter a few times before folding it up and sticking it in her pocket.

"Thank you for bringing it to me Kakashi."

"No problem." He said before turning to the other two. "You guys ready?"

"Yeah, let's do this!"

"Hn."

"Okay then, lets get going." And with that, they all ran into the forest outside the gates. As they were running, Naruto caught up to Kakashi.

"Hey Kakashi?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Where exactly are we going? Old Lady Tsunade didn't give us that much information."

"Ask Sakura, shes got all the information for the mission." He answered, eyeing the kunoichi running next to him.

"We're heading for Grass. That's were Ichiro was last spotted. Though knowing him I doubt he's still doing the whole raid-each-village-I-come-by thing. By now he would have found this method ineffective. He'll probably start using his head to look for his father." She said through clenched teeth.

"'Knowing him. . . ?' You know this guy?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura looked down at her feet and frowned, "I thought I knew him."

"How?" Naruto asked curiously.

Sakura took a deep breath, "His name is Ichiro Morihashi. He was the son of the man I was supposed to be protecting from unknown assassins. He was also the unknown assassin. Though over the years I was there I became. . . close to him. He would always train me. He taught me quite a lot of useful jutsu and is the reason I carry my ninjato's. Though one day I found out he was the one who wanted to kill Morihashi-sama. Him and his twin brother, who was thought to already be dead. . . Well he is now. When I thought I killed Ichiro that night, it was really his twin."

Everyone remained quiet, sensing that Sakura was remembering the painful story she just shared with them. Even Naruto got the hint and stayed silent. Then all of a sudden, Sakura looked up and smiled.

"But this time he hasn't got a twin to die for him."

* * *

After thirteen hours and a few rest breaks later, the four shinobi decided to camp out for the night. Naruto plopped down on his sleeping bag with out a word and fell right to sleep. Sakura rolled out her bag slowly, both physically and mentally drained. Both Sasuke and Kakashi sat up against a tree.

"I'll take first watch. Then Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto." Sasuke and Sakura nodded, Naruto smiled in his sleep.

Kakashi watched as Sakura's body became relaxed and her breathing fell into a steady rhythm, telling him she was asleep. Sasuke watched as well, and when he was sure Sakura was in a deep sleep, he turned to Kakashi.

"So what do you think?" he asked blandly.

Kakashi turned away from Sakura and rummaged through his pocket to take out his book. "About what?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, already starting to get annoyed. "You know what. Sakura and this Ichiro guy."

Kakashi frowned, "I think their relationship was more than she led on to be."

"You think she could have been-"

"In love?" Kakashi cut off. Sasuke frowned, not really wanting to hear the answer said out loud.

"Hn… But what I want to know is why would he train and teach her new jutsu's to make her stronger when he knew all along she was his main enemy and the only one in the way of his goal?"

Kakashi thought about this for a second. It was a good question. "Maybe he really did care for her?"

"Hn."

"You should get some rest Sasuke. I'll wake you in three hours."

"Fine." And with that, Sasuke closed his eyes and fell asleep, still thinking about Sakura.

* * *

Sakura was walking through the forest, as if she were looking for something. There was a strong gust of wind, and it sounded like someone was whispering her name. As the wind blew harder, the voice got louder until the wind stopped and the voice was right by her ear, calling her name.

"Sakura." The voice breather form behind her. Sakura found the voice both soothing and terrifying at the same time. She leaned into the body behind her, feeling strong arms wrap around her waist.

"Sakura." He whispered again in her neck. "Just give me one more night."

When he said that, Sakura immediately knew who it was.

"Ichiro!" she breathed, trying to squirm her way out of his tight embrace. But he wouldn't let go.

"I know you still love me Sakura."

"No!" she escaped his grasp and ran deeper into the forest. When she looked back to see if he was chasing her, she ran into a pair of strong arms. She didn't have to look up to know who it was. She could tell by his old outfit with that stupid purple bow and the open robe, that it was Sasuke. Sakura wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest. He held her close.

"Sasuke, help me." She cried.

"Sakura." He hissed. But it wasn't his normal, deep voice. Sakura frowned and looked up to be met with half of Sasuke's face ripped off, showing pale flesh with a purple line running from his eyelid, down to his nose.

"Noooo!" she screamed, thrashing, trying to get out of his arms.

"Sakura."

"Noo!"

"Sakura, wake up!" a voice said form up above her. Sakura opened her eyes. Sasuke was leaning over her with his hands on both of her shoulders. She looked up at him confused, he looked down at her worried.

"Sasuke?" she whimpered, sitting up and touching the part of his face that was ripped open in her dream.

He took her hand in his, "It was just a dream Sakura."

Sakura wiped the sweat off her forehead and sat up, never taking hr eyes off Sasuke. Once again she touched the left side of his face.

"Whatever you dreamed Sakura, it wasn't real." He said gently.

"I know." She whispered, then leaned against his chest, just to feel some warmth. Sasuke leaned back against a tree with Sakura lying on him, half way asleep.

"You would never leave me again, would you?" she asked quietly.

Sasuke frowned at the question. He wrapped his arm around her and began to run his fingers through her hair, putting her to sleep.

"No Sakura. I wouldn't."

* * *

Thank you for all your support so far, your reviews are what keeps me inspired. SO KEEP REVIEWING!!

I'll give you something to look forward to. There's a SasuSaku lemon in the next chap.


	8. The Beginning, And The End?

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter 8: The beginning, and the end?**

**

* * *

**

Team Kakashi traveled for another two days before they finally came to a village that was raided only three days ago so they could both ask questions and sleep in a real bed for a night or two. At about eleven o'clock they checked into a small inn.

"Two bedrooms please." Kakashi said to the woman behind the counter. "Two beds in each."

"Oh, I'm sorry sir. The only two rooms that are free have two singles and a queen size bed."

"That will be fine." He said with an eye-crease, taking the two keys from the woman. He walked over to the others and looked at Sakura.

"Sakura, you get the queen size bed." He said, giving her the key.

"I'm sleeping with Sakura!" Naruto yelled, then blushed when he realized what he said.

"Oh no you're not. You like to spread yourself sideways on the bed Naruto. You're sleeping with Kakashi." She said, swirling her key on her finger.

"Well it's settled then. Naruto and I will share a room and you and Sasuke. That fine with you Sasuke?"

"Hn."

They all grabbed their bags and headed to their rooms. They were across the hall from each other. When they went into their rooms Naruto caught Sasuke by the arm in the hallway and looked at him seriously.

"Don't try anything Teme." He said in a low tone so no one else would hear.

"Hn." Was all the answer Sasuke gave him, then turned to enter his room.

"I'm serious Sasuke." Naruto called back. Sasuke stopped. "She's been hurt enough. You don't need to go stirring up her emotions again."

Sasuke just looked over his shoulder at Naruto, "I've caused her enough pain. I don't plan on making that mistake again." He said, then went into his room and closed the door with a snap.

"He's changed from the emotionless twelve year old we used to know Naruto." Kakashi said from behind him, leaning against the wall. He heard everything. "He wouldn't do what he did to Sakura last time. I truly do think he cares for her now. Maybe even loves her."

"Hmph, I'll have to see it to believe it. I just don't want to see Sakura go through that again." He said sadly, than walked past Kakashi into their room. Kakashi sighed and followed him inside.

* * *

When Sasuke entered their room, he heard the shower running.

_I guess I'll just take a shower in the morning. _He thought as he pulled off his shirt.

When he heard the water stop and the curtain being pulled back, he opened the bathroom door and walked in on a stunned, naked Sakura.

She was standing in the middle of the floor dripping wet with only a towel wrapped around her.

Sasuke walked behind her, pulled her hair to one side of her shoulder and began kissing her neck, sucking the water off her damp flesh. Sakura leaned back into his bare chest, breathing his name. Sasuke wrapped one arm around her waist while the other went for the top of her towel, undoing it. The towel fell to the floor, leaving Sakura completely naked and venerable in front of Sasuke.

Her breath became ragged as his wandering hand went lower. Sakura leaned her head back on his shoulder and gave a soft moan as he slipped a finger in between her soaked folds. He added another finger and began to move faster, causing Sakura's knees to give out. Sasuke caught her and placed her back on her feet, facing him. Sakura looked up, and jade met crimson. She had learned that Sasuke's sharingan activates itself automatically when his emotions are running high. Like now. His sharingan was spinning fast.

Sakura lifted a hand to his cheek and caressed it before putting it behind his neck and pulling him down to kiss her. There was no gentle first kiss this time. The passion erupted between them just as their lips touched. Sasuke picked her up and pushed her against the wall, making her wrap her legs around his waist. She gasped into his mouth when she felt his erection through his pants. Sasuke smirked inwardly at this. One of Sakura's hands let go of his neck and went down to unbutton his pants, but his hand caught hers, stopping it.

He looked at her seriously, "Is this what you want Sakura?" he asked in a horse voice.

Sakura looked at him with glazed eyes, "Yes." She answered, then continued to undo his pants. Sasuke kissed her possessively and carried her to the bed. Sakura shivered as they walked out of the hot, steamy bathroom, into the cool bedroom. Sasuke laid her down and took off his pants and boxers. He climbed on top of Sakura and positioned himself at her entrance once again.

He looked down at her, "Are you sure?"

"Yes. Sasuke, please!" she pleaded, arching herself into him.

Sasuke kissed her deeply then lunged into her, causing her to moan into his mouth. Once they found a steady pace, Sasuke broke the kiss and laid his forehead on her shoulder. Sakura's nails dug into his back as he quickened the pace and thrust harder into her. Sakura cried out in pure bliss. Sasuke could feel her walls around him tighten and he knew she was close to her climax, and he wasn't fare behind.

"Sasuke!" she screamed. Her legs shook uncontrollably as the spasms coursed through her body from her orgasm.

He rasped her name before filling her with his seed and collapsing on top of her, both of them breathing heavily and glistening with sweat.

Sasuke rolled off of her, grabbed her waist and pulled her back against his chest and nuzzled his face into her neck.

"Get some sleep." He whispered, pulling her closer.

"Hn." She answered sleepily, too tired to say anything else.

* * *

The next morning Sakura woke up to a stream of sunlight shining through the curtains, right into her eyes. Sakura turned her head away from the light and groaned. It wasn't until then that she remembered last night. Her eyes shot open and looked at the empty space beside her. She felt a tugging sensation in her chest.

_Was that all he wanted from me? Sex? _She thought as she sat up in bed and covered herself with the sheet. _Where is he?_

Just as she finished the thought, the bathroom door opened up and Sasuke walked out in nothing but a towel. He stopped when he saw Sakura staring at him with worried eyes.

Sasuke frowned and walked over to her. He bent down and kissed her possessively. Once he broke the kiss, he looked her in the eyes, "You thought I left."

Sakura was shocked by his statement. She looked down, away from his hard, questioning eyes. She was too ashamed to admit it, but he already knew the answer.

Sasuke stood up straight and walked over to his bag to get out a fresh pair of clothes. He set them on the bed and dropped his towel. Sakura gasped. She turned her head out of both instinct and to try to hide her deep blush.

Sasuke smirked at her embarrassment, "It's nothing you haven't seen before, Sakura." He said while pulling on his boxers.

Sakura simply couldn't take it anymore and made a dash for the bathroom, with the sheet still wraped around her. Sasuke caught her wrist and pinned her against the wall with such speed, she didn't even know it happened.

He leaned down and whispered, "Your too modest Sakura."

She turned her head towards him so she was looking him in the eye, "I think modesty is perfectly fine." She said defensively.

"Hn."

"Don't you 'hn' me." She said with a glare.

He smirked at her and sighed, "You're annoying."

Sakura's glare became harder as she used her chakra to push Sasuke off her. She disappeared into the bathroom and slammed the door behind herself.

_Still the same short temper. _He thought to himself as he turned around to get dressed.

* * *

An hour later, all four of them were standing outside of the inn. Kakashi had a black bag under his visible eye, Naruto had a giant bruise on his forehead, Sakura was pissed, and Sasuke looked amused.

Sakura raised her eyebrow at Kakashi and Naruto, "How'd your night go?"

Kakashi was the first to answer, "I honestly don't think I have ever heard someone snore that loud in my life."

"It was the air conditioning!" Naruto yelled, defensively. "It was blowing right on me and drying out my throat! And you didn't have to push me off the bed to make me stop. You could have just called my name to wake me up."

"I did. And shook you. And took the covers off you. _And_ poured water on your face and you still didn't wake up." Kakashi said from behind his book.

"Hmph," Naruto crossed his arms and looked the other way. "You could have pushed me _away_from the corner of the nightstand.

Sakura smiled at her friends' childish demeanor. "Actually Kakashi, all you need to do to wake Naruto up is say you made some ramen. He wakes right up."

"Well I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, we need to start questioning the villager's about what they saw the night they were raided. We'll all split up and meet each other back here at five."

"Right!"

"Fine."

"Hn."

"Okay then, lets move out." And with that the four of them shot off in different directions.

* * *

Sakura seemed to be walking down the main road of the village. She passed several shops and homes that were burnt down and asked the residents what happened, how many men were there, and if they recognized one to be their leader.

"Yeah, there was one man who seemed to be ordering the rest around." One man told her. "He had brown hair and carried two swords on his back, just like you. I guess they were looking for someone because the men kept reporting back to him saying they didn't find 'him'"

Sakura nodded, "Thank you." And she began to walk away.

"Hey," he called after her. "Are you searching for these men?"

She turned to look at him, "Yes, I am."

"Well, be careful. It's rumored that they rape beautiful young women as yourself."

"Yes, I would believe that." She said sadly. "But don't worry, I can handle myself." She said, the walked off, waving at the man.

The man waved back until she was out of sight then smiled. "Yeah, we'll see if you can handle Ichiro-sama. . . Again." He said to himself.

* * *

Sasuke had been asking around for hours, but no one seemed to know anything. That was until he came upon a beautiful young woman that said her mistress knew something of the leader.

"Take me to her." He ordered the girl.

She gave a malicious smile, "My pleasure. Follow me"

She took his hand and lead him to and enormous house. He rolled his eyes as he began to understand why she looked at him the way she did.

The woman led him inside where there were dozens of girls in the hallways, staring and giggling at him.

"Looks like Miako found one off the street, he's cute!" one whispered to another behind him. Sasuke glared. He could also hear some other women "working" behind some of the closed doors. He hadn't believed he would ever set foot in a place like this, but here he was. He felt guilty, and dirty. Oh, if Sakura ever found out. . .

The girl finally stopped in front of the door at the end of the hall.

"Here we are. But if you want to have a little fun after you speak with my mistress, we could." She offered, rubbing his chest.

Sasuke grabbed her wrist and took his hand off him, "I'm with someone, and I'm here on strict business." He said thickly, trying to be as nice as possible. Not very easy for an Uchiha.

The girl gave a small pout, "Fine." And she opened the door, walking in first. "Mistress, there's someone here who wants to ask you about those men."

A short woman of about sixty looked up from her check book. She took a long drag from her cigarette and waved the girl out. Sasuke walked up to the desk and gave a small bow.

"What do you want to know?" she asked. Her voice was harsh and ragged. Probably due to many decades of smoking.

"Anything you know." Sasuke answered.

The old woman put out her cigarette, pulled out a new one, and lit it up. "Please, sit." Sasuke did.

The woman sighed, "Five days ago a large group of men wanted to stay here, like an inn. At firs I turned them down, saying that no man would stay here and not make my girls work." She paused, taking another long drag and blowing it at Sasuke.

"Their leader, a very handsome man, probably around your age, maybe a little older, said that I wouldn't have to worry about that. He paid quite a lot for all his men to have one of my girls for the whole night, so I let them stay. Well to thank him for his generosity, I gave him the honor of having the most beautiful girl I own. Akio." She blew another cloud of smoke at Sasuke.

"At midnight, I did my regular check up and walked the halls to make sure my girls were performing well for what my customers paid. Well, when I got outside Akio's room, I heard her screaming. I wanted to go in there and stop whatever he was doing to her, but I was afraid he would take all the money back. . . So I just stood outside the door, listening. I could hear the poor girl whimpering and cry out for him to stop. He never did. Just kept calling out one name. . ." her voice trailed off as she began thinking.

"What name did he call out?" Sasuke asked with interest.

"Sakura." She answered simply.

Sasuke's heart dropped to his stomach when he heard that. He closed his eyes to try and control his anger which seemed to swell up inside him with every passing moment. He didn't even notice his sharingan had activated itself.

The old woman continued the story, "Once he was done with her, I heard her yell at him. I knew something bad was going to happen because she mentioned the name and how he had been calling her Sakura the whole time." She lit a new cigarette. "The first and most important rule I teach these girls is to never bring up their customers personal lives unless they're brought up. . . She made the biggest mistake of her life when she yelled that she wished this Sakura girl broke his heart." The old woman looked down at something on her desk. She picked a picture up and handed it to Sasuke. "This was Akio before that night."

Sasuke looked at the young girl in the picture. She had long black hair and bright emerald eyes.

_The same as Sakura's_

"And this is Akio afterwards." She handed another picture. This one was of a body and the same girls head two feet away. Her green eyes lifeless.

"I was still outside of the door when he came out, not being able to move out of pure terror. He looked me straight into the eye and said, 'She was too much like someone I used to know. I'll give you more money when we leave to pay for your troubles.'" She put out her cigarette, not lighting another one this time. The old woman sighed.

"That girl who brought you in here, she was Akio's older sister."

"What did this man look like?" Sasuke asked through clenched teeth, ignoring what the woman just said.

"Like I said, he was very handsome. A few years older than yourself. He had short auburn hair and light green eyes. He had your build, muscular, but not buff."

"Do you know where they headed?"

"No, they just up and disappeared. Though he did leave more money on my desk just as he said he would."

Sasuke stood and bowed once more. "Thank you for your time and information." He said before turning to leave.

"Young man." She called back, lighting another cigarette. Sasuke looked back. "You know this 'Sakura', don't you?"

"Hai."

"Hm." She said, thinking to herself, then waved him out to leave.

As Sasuke walked back to the inn, he could feel his anger coursing through him like fire, and his blood was an oil trail. He clenched and unclenched his hands, thinking about what the old woman said.

Sasuke knew, even before he had sex with Sakura, that she wasn't a virgin. Just by her being ready and not afraid. But she never expected the man she had sex with before himself, was the man they had been sent to kill. The man who raped and killed that poor girl. The man that she probably once loved!

_I know she still has some feelings for him. I know she must have loved him because Sakura's not the type of woman to just give her body to just any man. _He thought to himself. His sharingan had turned to Mangekyou on its own. _And you can't love someone once and have those feelings disappear, no matter what that person does. She loved me as a genin, I betrayed her, and she still has feelings for me. What I put Sakura through is much worse than what this man did. So she still must love the bastard._

By this time Sasuke was already in his bedroom. Sakura wasn't there yet. It was only around two and they were supposed to be back at five. So Sasuke just sat on their bed and let himself soak in his anger, and even if he wouldn't admit it, jealousy. He would surely be the one to kill Ichiro Morihashi. He would make sure of that.

Sasuke laid head back and gave a heavy sigh, changing his mangekyou sharingan back to his normal onyx color. He couldn't get the image of Sakura lying naked under him and the feel of her soft skin against his own out of his mind. He kept remembering the way she would whisper his name, and could still feel the slight sting of his small wounds on his back where she dug her nails into him.

_Another man, _he thought, feeling his heart plummet. _Another man felt her skin, saw her naked, heard her moan._

Just then, the bedroom door opened and Sakura walked in. She stopped when she saw Sasuke already sitting on the bed.

"Oh, Sasuke. You're here early."

Sasuke didn't look up at her, he just sat there with his eyes closed. Sakura frowned and walked over to sit down next to him on the bed.

"What's the matter? Are you not feeling well?" she asked with concern. "Sasuke you smell like smoke. Where have you been?"

Sasuke then looked straight into Sakura's eyes. The fury in them was unmistakable. Sakura stared. Even without the sharingan activated, his eyes were still fierce and hypnotic.

Sakura tried to swallow the large lump in her throat, "What?" she asked, not being able to take her eyes away from Sasuke's. She could see him clenching his jaw, trying to hold something back.

"What was he to you Sakura?" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

Sakura's eyes widened, "What?"

"I won't repeat myself."

Sakura's heart began throbbing against her chest. She was half afraid he would hear it in the agonizing silence.

"Who?" was all she could manage to say, though knowing exactly who.

"Ichiro Morihashi." He said with such venom it made Sakura flinch. She finally was able to tear her eyes away from his and stood up. She faced her back to him and held her arms in front of her stomach like she used to do when she felt vulnerable.

"He-he was my friend. He was also like a sensei to me also. He taught me a few ju-"

"He was more than a friend." He growled, taking her shoulder and spinning her around roughly to face him. Sakura just stared with fear and pain.

"Tell me Sakura. How you could love a man like that?" he whispered in her ear.

Sakura backed away from him. Her eyes were wide and vacant and her face became deathly white. She stood straight, but she was trembling, as though her skin were holding her together, keeping her from flying into a million directions.

"It seems I tend to always fall for men who break my heart." She whispered.

Sasuke clenched his jaw and rasped between his teeth, "So you did love him."

"Yes." She answered simply.

"Do you still love him?" he asked, not wanting to hear the answer.

The tears that had been threatening to escape fell. The irony of the situation was killing her as she looked away and said the first thing that came to mind, "I wish I didn't."

Sasuke stared at her for awhile before asking, "Was he the one you gave yourself to for the first time?"

Sakura was surprised by the blunt question, but answered it nonetheless. "Yes." But then she seemed to realize how weak he was making her in this situation. She looked up at him with just as much vigor that he had.

"It's not like you were a virgin until last night though." She yelled at him, feeling both anger and jealousy begin to boil up inside her. "You probably did it with that pathetic hebi bi-" Sakura's words were knocked out of her as Sasuke slammed her against the wall with his hand around her neck. She looked up into his spinning mangekyou sharingan.

He leaned up against her ear and answered in a low, controlled voice, "She meant _nothing _to me." he squeezed Sakura's throat tighter to emphasize his point. "But you couldn't say the same for him, could you Sakura?" he asked. Sakura just looked away. He released her so quickly she nearly dropped to the floor. For a moment he stared at her averted face, anger, disgust, and heartache battling for supremacy.

Sasuke then turned and walked away towards the door. When he turned back to her, she couldn't meet his eyes. At the moment she didn't feel anything. No anger, no pain, no disappointment, no despair. She was catatonic, completely void of feeling. Her spirit had deserted her, leaving a vast wasteland that once had been her heart. This was the final straw. She had been hurt too much to even care anymore.

When he left, Sasuke didn't slam the door, but the quiet click of its closing couldn't have sounded more final.

* * *

(A/N) Well I must say, I absolutely love this chapter. I think it just may be my favorite.

Anyways, were getting to the end of the story sobs. there may be one or two chapters left

**So please review!! It'll jump start my drive to write again!! I have a goal to get to 100 reviews before this story's over!!**

Oh and I almost forgot, someone asked me why I gave Ichiro that name and if it was special. Well, yes I did name him that for a reason. As all of you know, Ichiro is a twin, well what you don't know is that he was the first born. "Ichiro" means "one" and "son", traditionally a name given to the first son. There was a small little hint if some of you caught it. Ichiro kind of shows his superiority to Izumo when he has his brother die for him. So well, I hope that was the answer you were looking for Obita??


	9. Abducted

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Chapter 9: Abduction**

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Sakura blinked, realizing what just happened. She covered her mouth with her hand, starring at the door with wide, tear brimmed eyes.

She fell across the bed, hugging the pillow tight against her face as she screamed into it. Her body twisted against the excruciating pain of her soul. She vented her fury with tears and curses, pounding her fists into the mattress beneath her. Never had she succumbed to such a fit of temper, but then, never had her world been so unmercifully destroyed for the third time.

But the rage was soon spent, and she became exhausted. And the exhaustion was accompanied by despair, black and encompassing and absolute, suffocating her.

Sakura rolled onto her back and began to stare sightlessly at the ceiling.

Why did she bring up Karin? Jealousy had ruled her reactions. Jealousy and curiosity. She always wanted to know if she killed the whore for good reason.

Why hadn't she just said no, she didn't love him anymore? Why did she say what she said? What she meant to say was that she never wished she loved him in the first place. But it came out wrong and she never got the chance to correct her mistake. She didn't love Ichiro anymore, she loved Sasuke. But Sasuke didn't know that.

Sakura played and replayed the scene between the two of them and just couldn't understand why the men she loved always made her feel weak.

"Sakura?"

A light tapping on the door caused her to stir. Groggily she sat up on the edge of the bed and whipped her tear stained face.

"What Naruto?"

"Can I come in? I have some tea for you." He said lightly.

"Yes."

The door opened and a wedge of light sliced across the room. When had it grown dark? Naruto came in with a cup of tea and set it on the bedside table. His eyes filled with concern and love when he saw Sakura's bloodshot eyes and blotchy face.

"Sakura." He said softly, taking her hand and sitting next to her on the bed. "Are you alright?"

Sakura nodded absently, "I'm fine Naruto."

Naruto frowned at her lie, "I ran into Sasuke-teme." He noticed her flinch at Sasuke's name. "He told me we should switch rooms. I asked him why but he ignored me. He was in a really bad mood. He said that you would probably want it this way. I thought he hurt you and was about to kick his ass but Kakashi held me back and told me I should just come here and check on you." Naruto finally took a breath, having said the whole story in one. "So will you tell me what happened so I'll actually know the reason I'm going to eventually kill him?"

Sakura gave a ghost of a smile, "Don't hurt him Naruto. It's not his fault." She said, laying a hand on his. "I'll tell you tomorrow, but right now I just want to rest."

Naruto nodded and stood up to leave, but Sakura grabbed his sleeve.

"Will you stay here with me?" she asked with almost pleading eyes.

Naruto stared back at her with sympathy, "Of course Sakura."

He walked around the bed, took off his sandals, jacket, and headband and lay down under the covers. Sakura slipped under them as well and laid her head on his chest.

"Thank you Naruto. Your always there when I need you the most." She whispered.

Naruto gave a sad smile, "And I always will be."

"Thank you." She repeated before Sakura found the oblivion of sleep too appealing to resist.

* * *

When Sakura woke up, Naruto was no where to be found. She looked over to the bathroom door. It was open and the light was off. She sat up and looked at the time. It was nine thirty. She had only been asleep for a couple hours. 

Sakura placed a hand on her forehead and rubbed it, trying to wake herself up.

_I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep. _She thought as she climbed out of bed. _I need to relax._

She grabbed a few towels, soap, and wrote Naruto a note telling him where she would be before heading to the bath house she saw earlier today.

When she got there, it was empty. She washed herself before slipping into the steamy water. The hot water was soothing to her sore legs. Sakura had healed herself this morning, from the night before. Sasuke found it as a compliment that she could barely stand. He felt no guilt.

Sakura shook her head, pushing away the thought. Just thinking about him made her heart clench painfully.

Just then a woman came in, washed herself, and dipped in across from Sakura. She looked exhausted. She laid her head back, not even taking notice of Sakura.

Sakura took the woman's lead and laid her head back and closed her eyes. It was then when she felt the water around her begin to feel weird. She opened her eyes and looked at the water. It was denser than it had been before. Sakura's eyes widened and looked up at the woman. He eyes were still closed, but she had a hand sign at the ready.

Sakura turned to try to escape, but the water held her tight.

The woman looked Sakura in the eyes, "My master wishes to see you."

Sakura struggled against the water, "And who is your master?"

"Ichiro-sama." She aid simply before knocking Sakura out.

* * *

It was ten o'clock when Naruto entered his room. He had expected to see Sakura sleeping soundly n the bed, but instead found and empty, dark room. 

Naruto turned on the lights. A piece of paper on the bed caught his eye. He walked over and picked it up.

_Naruto,_

_I've gone to the bath house for an hour. I left at 9:30. I needed to relax. Don't wait up for me, you go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning._

_Love, Sakura_

Naruto shrugged, not really taking anything in concern. Sakura just needed a little space, that's all.

He began to peel off his clothes, only leaving on his black boxers and the necklace Tsunade gave him. Naruto slipped under the covers and closed his eyes. Just then, Naruto heart clenched and his stomach churned. He had a bad feeling about something. He attempted to brush the feeling away, but it only got worse.

Naruto was going to stay up and wait until Sakura got back.

* * *

Sakura opened her eyes up to pure darkness. She couldn't see a thing except for the ray of light shining under the door in front of her. She attempted to move her arm, but she couldn't. Sakura was sitting up in a chair with her arms and legs tied with chakra string. It was so tight she could already feel the string digging into her flesh. 

She struggled for what seemed like hours trying to free herself, but it was useless. All her chakra was drained and every move she made, the strings dug deeper into her skin.

Sakura finally stilled when she saw a shadow underneath the door. She felt her heart rate increase and did everything in her power to slow it down and control herself. The door opened and all Sakura could see was the silhouette of a man.

The man closed the door so they were both thrown back into darkness. Sakura stared at her knees trying not to breathe so she could hear his light footsteps walk toward her.

She jumped when she felt her hair being pulled to her right shoulder and light, caressing fingers trialing up her neck and across her jaw line. Sakura jerked her head away from the tantalizing touch. She heard a deep chuckle form behind her.

"You haven't changed much, have you Sakura?" the man laughed.

Sakura began to shake with fury, "No, not much." She said through clenched teeth. "And you Ichiro? Have you changed at all?"

He laughed again as the lights came on. "Well, no I haven't. I've stayed pretty much the same."

"Hn."

"Hn? Since when do you say 'hn'?" he asked, pulling up a chair up in font of her. He stratled the chair and placed his arms on the back, glaring. "You've been spending time with that Uchiha, haven't you?"

Sakura gave her own glare, "Does it matter?"

Ichiro gave a saddened smile, "No. No I guess it doesn't. I think I always knew you would go back to your first love."

"Ichiro, I don't think my personal business is the reason I'm here. Why don't you just get to the point and spare us the small talk." She rasped.

Ichiro smirked, "Alright then. Where is my father?"

It was Sakura's turn to laugh. She looked up at him amused, "You don't really expect me to just tell you, do you? If so, then you really don't know me at all."

Ichiro simply looked at her and repeated himself, "Where is my father?"

"Sasuke never repeats himself." She said, just to make him mad. Ichiro's hand was around her throat before she knew it.

"Do I look like I care what that bastard does or does not do?" he rasped in her ear.

She chuckled, "Obviously you do. Jealous?"

He glared at her, "Of what? I have nothing to be jealous about."

"Of nothing you know about." She answered, looking away.

"What are you talking about?" he growled, now sitting back in his chair.

"Oh, nothing. It's not like you care or anything. You never have. Have you?"

They stared each other in the eye for a moment before Ichiro answered, "Yes, I have. And I obviously still do." He then glared at her. "No matter how many times I try to get you out of my head, you keep coming back ten times stronger. Your eyes, your hair, your voice. It never leaves!" he yelled, throwing the chair against the wall then going up to Sakura and grabbed her face tightly. "No matter how many other woman I fuck, you're the only one I see. You're name is the only one I call out for." He let her go and backed away.

"Ichiro," Sakura whispered, just to get his attention. "If you did care about me, then why did you continue?"

"I owe no explanation to you." He said thickly.

"Yes, you do."

Ichiro began to walk to the door. His hand was on the doorknob when he turned around to speak with her.

"So you will not tell me willingly where my father is?" he asked monotonously.

"No, not willingly or through torture." She answered strongly.

He turned and opened the door, "We'll see." And closed the door with a sharp snap.

* * *

Naruto looked at the clock. It was twelve twenty-six. 

_She left at nine thirty and she said she would be back in an hour. It's been three. I gave her a couple hours extra thinking she would probably like to take a walk, but she wouldn't take a walk this long. _He thought as he lay on his back, alone in the bed. _Maybe I should go look for her._

With that resolve, Naruto jumped out of bed, got dressed, and ran towards the bath house.

When he got there, it was dark and no one was there. He let his eyes adjust to the moonlight before looking around. He found nothing until he slipped on something and landed hard on his back.

"Damnit!" He cursed as he sat up, rubbing the back of his head and looking around to find what made him slip in the first place.

His eye was caught by a small, pink, rectangular object a few feet away. He crawled to it and picked it up. Naruto's eyes filled with worry.

_This is Sakura's. _He thought as he sniffed it. _It's cherry blossom. The same soap she's been using since we were genin._

Naruto looked around frantically, searching for more clues to let him know Sakura had been there, and maybe a clue to where she was now.

He found one of her towels neatly folded by the edge of the bath, untouched.

Naruto's heart plummeted at the realization of what might have happened to Sakura. He grabbed her towel and soap and sped through the village, back to the inn.

When he finally got there, he barged straight in Sasuke's and Kakashi's room. He stopped when two kunai came flying past his head.

Both Sasuke and Kakashi were (now) up and fully awake, in fighting positions. They relaxed slightly when they noticed it was just Naruto.

"Naruto, what do you think your doing barging in our room this late?" Sasuke asked, extremely annoyed, already climbing back under his covers.

Naruto finally snapped out of it and remembered why he was there in the first place.

"Sakura! I think she's been taken!" he yelled, holding out her soap and towel.

On hearing this, Sasuke sat straight up, staring at his friend, waiting for him to put on his signature grin and say he was just kidding. . . But he didn't.

"What do you mean Naruto? What happened?" Kakashi asked calmly, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"When I got back to my room after I ate, Sakura was gone. She left a note for me on the bed saying she was going to the bath house and would be back in an hour. Well she left at nine thirty. Around twelve thirty I went to go look for her. I went to the bath house and I found her soap and her towel still on the side of the bath, unused. I think someone took her from there."

By the end of Naruto's explanation Sasuke was already fully dressed and was strapping his weapons pouch and Kakashi was slipping his headband back over his left eye. Once they were ready, they were on their way to the bath house.

"Ichiro or one of his men probably took her." Kakashi told them as they were speeding over the roof tops. "Sakura is the only person, excluding the Hokage, who knows where his father is. I expected something like this to happen. Not necessarily him abducting her, but tracking her down to get the location of his father from her."

Sasuke gritted his teeth in an attempt to control his anger, "You knew these men would be after her and you didn't tell us?"

"It was a stupid mistake. I know." Kakashi said sadly.

When they got there, Kakashi immediately noticed the still quite dense water and figured out how exactly they captured Sakura.

Kakashi bit his thumb until bled, did some hand seals, then placed his palm on the ground. In a puff of smoke, Pakkun appears.

"Pakkun, I need you to find Sakura." Kakashi said, getting straight to the point.

"That should be easy, I can already smell her scent. It's strong." He said as he led them out of the bath house and into the forest.

"She's always had such a distinct scent to her. Always floral." Pakkun told them as they jumped from tree to tree, following the trail.

"I remember when we used to use the same shampoo. That was quite amusing."

* * *

A blood freezing scream echoed through the room. 

Sakura bit down hard on her lip causing blood to trickle down her chin, trying to hold back her screams. It was as if something was magnifying the excruciating pain of a kunai digging all the way from her shoulder to her forearm. She could feel the weapon drag lazily over her bone. The blade stopped halfway down her forearm. Sakura took notice to every stream of blood that flowed out of her body, down her arm, dropping on her leg and ended at the large puddle of her blood under her. Why did she have to be a medic-nin?

"Are you going to tell me now?" a man asked.

Sakura looked up at the man, her eyes no longer held her usual spark. They were dull, almost lifeless.

She took a deep, shaky breath, "Up yours." She rasped.

The man sighed as if he were getting bored. He then dug the kunai straight through the hand.

Sakura, completely overcome with pain, couldn't even bring herself to scream. Her eyes just widened, her breath caught in her lungs, and she began to tremble violently. She looked down at the kunai piercing through her hand.

"How about now?" he asked.

"Ichiro," she whispered shakily. "I've told you numerous times. No, I will not tell you where your father is."

Ichiro set the kunai down and leaned over Sakura so his face was right by her ear.

"Sakura, this is just as hard for me as it is for you." He whispered. Sakura gave a harsh laugh. "So I'm being extremely easy on you."

"You call this going easy on me?" she rasped, managing nothing louder that a whisper.

Ichiro stood up straight and sighed, "This is your last chance Sakura, tell me."

Sakura looked him square in the eyes, "No."

He glared at her before shaking his head, "Fine, have it your way."

Ichiro picked up the kunai he had set down and sliced the front of the shirt he had her put in when she was brought here naked.

Sakura gasped, realizing now what he was planning on doing. She thrashed in her bindings trying to escape his groping hands.

"I know your fear Sakura." He whispered in her ear.

He began kissing gown her neck, to her bare chest, sucking the blood and sweat right off her, loving the taste. He opened his mouth to her breast, but was far from gentle. He bit her nipple and watched, fascinated by the way her blood slowly seeped out of her small wounds and flowed down the outside of her breast.

Sakura, for the first time the whole night with Ichiro, she cried. Tears were pouring down her cheeks. And also for the first time, she began to beg for him to stop.

"It amazes me Sakura," he said, not even looking up at her as he spoke. He kept his attention on the trail of blood now falling down her abdomen. "How you can go through so much physical pain and not shed one tear and stay strong the whole time." Ichiro licked the trail of blood from her belly button to the bite mark on her nipple. Sakura shuddered out of fear. "Yet when it comes down to your psyche, you're weak. It's the memory of me raping you that haunts you. And you can't take it."

"Please, Ichiro." She cried.

He smirked, "Well, since you asked so nicely." He said, then grabbed the kunai and sliced through the front of her shorts and underwear, leaving her fully exposed.

Sakura tried her hardest to close her legs, but couldn't because the legs to the chair were spread too far apart and the chakra strings that were binding her dug even deeper into her flesh when she tried to conceal herself.

Ichiro jerked her legs apart roughly. He immediately lunged two fingers inside her. He moved his fingers inside her core, then stopped. Ichiro pulled his fingers out of her and stepped back. He looked at the trembling woman with so much rage.

"So, you're fucking Sasuke Uchiha, huh?" he growled.

Sakura's head shot up, starring at him wide eyed. He had the same look in his eyes he had the night he raped her. That one look of rage, regret, and lust. But this time they held something more.

Jealousy.

* * *

(A/N) Well that last part was really hard for me to write cuz I love Sakura and I hate when she's in pain. She's one of my fav. characters in the Naruto series (if not my favorite). 

Ok, in the last chap I made Sasuke be mean cuz I felt in some parts of the story I kinda made him look like a pansy and I didn't want that. So I made up for it.

Next chapter!! Who will kill Ichiro? Sakura or Sasuke??

**REVIEW…! Please :)**

(Ok this is just one of my random thoughts. It amazes me that hundreds of people will read your fic when you release a new chap but only like 10 review!!! The people who read Kill Him Twice whenever I update it and don't review, please review!! It only takes like 1 minute of your life to make me happy  Its not asking a lot. But I luv all of you just as much even if you don't review. Hope everyone enjoyed this chap!!)


	10. Realization

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**Chapter 10: Realization**

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Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi continued to follow Pakkun until they came to an underground hideout.

"She's in there. But also, I can…" Pakkun's voice trailed off.

"You can what?" Sasuke asked impatiently.

"I can smell the strong scent on her blood."

Before Pakkun could barely finish is sentence, Sasuke and Naruto had already dashed for the entrance.

"Thank you Pakkun. We can take it from here." Kakashi said.

"Yeah, well. You just make sure you find Sakura before that Uchiha kid does something stupid. He seems more reckless than usual."

"We're all a bit reckless when the person we love most is in danger."

"Ah, that explains a lot. Good bye Kakashi." Pakkun disappeared in a puff of smoke and Kakashi ran to catch up to Sasuke and Naruto.

_I smell it too. The scent of her blood. _Kakashi thought. _She's close, but I can barely feel her chakra signature. It's at a deathly low…_

* * *

Ichiro just stood and glared at her, paying close attention to her reaction to what he just said.

"I'm just surprised he'd even have you, knowing that _I'm _the one who took you first." He said with a smirk, still watching her intently.

Sakura looked away, knowing he already knew the truth.

"So, he either doesn't know at all, or found out _after _he had sex with you that he just got sloppy seconds."

Anger was surging through her entire body, overpowering her fear and pain completely. Her adrenalin had finally kicked in.

"That's none of your damn business." She yelled.

Ichiro smiled and walked up to her. He placed both hands on her upper thighs and leaned in so his nose was just a centimeter away from hers.

"Well why don't I just tell him myself?" he whispered.

Sakura glared, "What the hell are you taking about?"

One of Ichiro's hands slipped in between her legs while he began kissing down her neck. Sakura struggled against his touch, but it was useless.

Finally, he took his hand away and just stood leaning over her. He smirked before he kissed her fiercely on the lips, forcing his tongue inside her mouth.

After what seemed like hours he pulled back and began walking to the door.

"You never answered my question." She rasped, out of breath from the kiss.

He stopped at the door and half turned to her, "I have a few unwelcome guests to attend to. I'll finish what I started once I've taken care of them."

* * *

Kakashi had finally caught up to Sasuke and Naruto and managed to calm them both down, reminding them they were still on a mission.

The three shinobi ran through the curved hallways, following the faint chakra signature and the metallic smell of blood.

They had been running for over ten minutes before they realized they were lost. The hallways were like a giant maze.

_This place is more complex than Orochimaru's layer. _Sasuke thought.

* * *

Sakura watched Ichiro leave. Once the door was closed and she heard the distinct click of the door being locked, she broke down.

Her head was bent low as a flood of tears escaped her eyes and fell onto her naked lap. The little strength and adrenalin she had earlier completely vanished. Her fear was intense and her pain was unbearable. She could feel her pulse through each wound and with each beat of her heart came an agonizing sharp pain.

Sakura looked at the long, deep gash on her left arm and watched helplessly as blood continuously gushed out of it.

Next she looked at her right hand with half a kunai sticking through the top and the other half visible through her palm. She saw the steady stream of blood pour out of her hand, onto the floor.

Sakura closed her eyes and tried not to concentrate on her wounds, but in her breathing. Attempting to take deep breaths was impossible, so she settled with her short, unsteady, ragged breathing, though it didn't work any because she kept thinking of the reason she was breathing this way. Both her lungs were bruised.

Sakura really hated being a medic-nin now. She could identify and feel the problem quickly.

"Damnit." She cursed under her breath, feeling her blood decrease by the pints. She knew if she didn't do something to at least _slow _the bleeding, she would be dead within the next hour.

Sakura felt her head begin to spin and her eyes feel heavy. Alarmed by what was happening she tried to focus her eyes on the door to try and stay awake, knowing that if she didn't, she would surely die in her sleep.

_I have to stay awake, _she thought to herself as she stared intently at the door through heavy lidded eyes.

_I'll die if I don't. Is this really it? Is this how I'm going to die? In a room alone, tied up, naked, and bleeding to death?_ Her eyes became out of focus. _I never got to say good-bye. Tsunade-sensei, Shizune, all of Rookie nine, and Gai's team. And Kakashi, he would probably find someway to blame himself for my death. I don't think he can take loosing another person he cares about. And Naruto, he's become my best friend, my brother. He'll be devastated, telling himself he failed in protecting me. _Her eyes closed and Inner Sakura took over. _**And Sasuke. I never got to explain that I don't love Ichiro, I love him. Now after I'm dead he'll probably resent me for not waiting on him like I promised. But it's not like I ever **_**stopped **_**loving him, I just buried my feelings for him like Ichiro told me to. I still love him. I have something to live for. I need to be able to tell him. Sasuke, I love you…**_

And her mind and body fell into black oblivion.

* * *

Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi stopped in their tracks.

"Kakashi!" Sasuke yelled in a panic.

"I know, I lost her chakra signature too." He said fiercely.

"It just disappeared, the little that was left." Naruto said to himself than to anyone else. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, trying to suppress the fox's chakra from taking him over in his angered state. His eyes were red and his whiskers were thicker, that was all her was going to let escape.

"Naruto, calm yourself down. Yamato isn't here to control the nine-tailed fox if you loose your temper and end up getting your tails." Kakashi told him.

"I know, I'm working on it." He growled.

"Kakashi, we need to split up." Sasuke said impatiently.

Kakashi looked over at him and nodded.

"Yes, I agree. We'll be able to cover more ground quicker. Naruto you'll go right, I'll keep going straight, and Sasuke you'll go to the left. If you find Sakura, just give the signal. Try to avoid battle, were here to rescue Sakura, not to fight. But if you run into Ichiro Morihashi, kill him."

"You didn't have to _tell _me to kill him. I was gonna do it anyway." Naruto said under his breath.

"Hn." Sasuke agreed.

"Alright then, spread out." Kakashi said before they all shot in different directions.

* * *

Sasuke sped through the hallways, following the overpowering smell of blood that he had a heart wrenching feeling was Sakura's.

He turned down a hallway to his left and stopped dead in his tracks. There was only one door at the end of the long hallway, and seeping underneath the door, was blood.

Sasuke ran up to the door through the puddle of blood, only to find that the door was locked. Not having the patience for a lock, he just manipulated his chidori to fit through the key hole. Once he heard the _click, _he swung open the door and stopped. His breath was knocked out of him by petrified fear.

There she was. Right in front of him. Naked, pale, and covered in blood. His teammate. His friend. His lover.

His Sakura.

Sasuke, without even knowing what he was doing for his head was too groggy to think of anything really, took slow, trembling steps towards the woman sitting in front of him. He couldn't stand the unbearable sound of his sandals splashing in the puddle of blood underneath his feet.

Sasuke stopped in front of her and placed two shaky fingers to her throat, searching for a pulse. He found none. He knew she was dead before he had even walked in. Now this was his proof. Cold hearted proof. Sakura was dead.

With trembling hands, Sasuke cupped her pale, bloodied face and kissed her forehead lightly.

Finally, not being able to take it anymore, his legs gave out from under him and he fell to his knees. He could feel her blood seep through his pants, still warm against his flesh.

Even with all the grief, pain, regret, and so many other emotions overpowering his very being, Sasuke only let one tear escape, for there was only one emotion that was beginning to surface over all the others.

Anger.

Sasuke looked over Sakura and all her wounds. The wide gash on her arm, the kunai through her hand, that bite mark on her nipple and neck, the chakra strings that were now half a centimeter into her flesh, showing her struggle to free herself, and what got to Sasuke the most was the obscured way her legs were wide open and blood seeped out of her core.

Sasuke closed her legs and slowly pulled the kunai out of her hand. He clenched his eyes shut, not able to take in the sight any longer. His mangekyou sharingan had activated itself, enabling him to catch everything. Every cut, bruise, and drop of blood he wished he couldn't see. So Sasuke kneeled there in front of her with his head on her knees, not wanting to move away from her. That was until he felt a presence behind him.

His eyes shot open and his sharingan began spinning furiously. He stood up slowly, ignoring the fact that his pants were dripping in blood. Sasuke turned around and locked eyes with the man who was the reason all of this happened. The reason he fought with Sakura. The reason she was dead.

Ichiro stood there leaning against the wall with a smirk on his face, staring back at the glaring Uchiha. He broke eye contact to look at Sakura and frowned.

"I'm guessing she's dead." Was all he said. Sasuke began to shake with fury, but kept quiet.

"I've been wanting to meet you for awhile now." Ichiro gave a harsh laugh. "Sasuke Uchiha. The man Sakura never stopped loving."

Sasuke's glare got fiercer, "What the hell are you talking about?" he rasped.

Ichiro smirked, "When I first met her, she said she loved you. Through the middle of our relationship she said she loved me, but cried out for you desperately in her sleep. And towards the end, today, she said she hated me and still loved you. Congratulations Uchiha, you've won a dead woman's heart. Agh-"

Sasuke had pulled out his katana and ran at Ichiro, ready to slice his neck, but Ichiro blocked his attack with both his ninjato's. Sasuke frowned in both anger and frustration.

_How did he block my attack? This is impossible, no weapon can block Kusanagi! _Sasuke thought to him self.

"My ninjato's didn't split in half because they, like your katana, are a little special." Ichiro said with a smirk, as if reading his mind. Sasuke growled and pushed against Ichiro, causing them both to jump back away from each other, out in the hallway.

"So Sasuke, how did you like getting sloppy seconds?" Ichiro asked with an evil grin. "She was a good fuck, wasn't she?"

Sasuke just stared at him gripping his katana so tight he heard his knuckles pop. He never knew he could hate anyone as much as Itachi, but here he was, a man he was starting to think he hated _more _than his brother.

"I know what you're doing. You don't have to say such things to get me to fight you. Believe me, I was going to kill you anyway. To avenge Sakura." Sasuke said calmly. He knew if he gave in to his anger and grief, he would loose. He just needed to concentrate on the hate he felt for this man. He needed to stay calm and focused. That's what he did with Itachi. That's why he's now dead.

"Avenge Sakura huh? What is it with you and revenge?"

"If people didn't kill the ones I love, then I wouldn't have to avenge anyone." Sasuke said simply.

Ichiro raised an eyebrow, "So you're saying you love her?"

"…Yes." Was all Sasuke said, answering both Ichiro's and his own question. He did love Sakura Haruno.

"Good. Now that makes two of us."

Ichiro threw six kunai's that Sasuke dodged easily and jumped away from the couple that had exploding tags on them.

Sasuke appeared out of the smoke and landed a punch to Ichiro's face, causing him to fly backwards, but caught his balance quickly.

"So really Sasuke, did you enjoy the one time you fucked her?"

Sasuke blocked a punch. It took everything Sasuke had not to loose himself in his rage.

"Because I did the last time I had her, but it was such a long time ago when she found out my true intentions. Though it would have been better if she would have stopped kicking and screaming." Ichiro said. He ducked Sasuke's kick only to be met with an uppercut to the jaw.

Ichiro went flying backwards. When he was still in the air, Sasuke did a few quick hand signs and put his hand to his mouth.

_Fire ball jutsu_

A giant fire ball came from Sasuke's hand and flew down the hallway, burning everything in its path. Sasuke waited until the smoke cleared to look for Ichiro's body, but there was none.

Sasuke glared, _how could he have dodged that?_

Barely even after Sasuke finished his thought, he turned around and snakes were flying out of his sleeve and wrapping themselves around a stunned Ichiro.

Sasuke walked over to him, "You raped Sakura?"

Ichiro smirked, "Only the last time. She gave herself willingly all the other times. Ahh!"

Sasuke's snakes were starting to restrict Ichiro. His face turned blue from lack of oxygen and blood was seeping out of his eyes and mouth.

"Sakura always hated when I use my snakes. They remind her of Orochimaru. But I'm sure she wouldn't mind this time since it's for a good cause." Sasuke said. When he heard Ichiro's ribs crack, the snakes drew back into his sleeve.

Sasuke picked Ichiro up by the throat and slammed him against the wall. Ichiro coughed up blood in an attempt to breath.

"Why did you hold back?" Sasuke asked.

Ichiro gave a harsh laugh, "So you noticed?"

Sasuke tightened his grip, telling him to answer.

"Because if… you wouldn't… have killed me… I would have… killed… myself." He managed between breaths. "Sakura… I cant live with…myself after w… what I did… to Sakura."

Sasuke glared at him and drew his katana, already sending his chidori through the blade. He slowly sliced his blade across Ichiro's throat, not deep enough for him to die instantly, but just enough to ensure a slow, painful death. He let go of Ichiro to have him fall to the floor in a puddle of his own blood.

Sasuke turned around and walked back to the room Sakura was in. He stopped to look at her again and sighed. He walked up to her and cut the chakra strings with his katana and pried the small string out of her flesh. Once he was done with both arms and legs, he took off his shirt and put it on Sakura to cover her most private parts, remembering what she said about modesty.

Once his shirt was on her he picked her up bridal style and walked out of the room. When he walked passed Ichiro, he was already dead.

Sasuke began running through the hallways, oblivious to anything and everything other than Naruto's and Kakashi's chakra signatures and the dead woman in his arms. It seemed Naruto and Kakashi felt the increase of chakra when he fought Ichiro and were coming his way.

Sasuke set Sakura down and sat beside her, moving the stray hairs that fell in front of her face. He didn't look up when Naruto turned the corner and saw them. Sasuke knew he wouldn't be able to see the look in his eyes. It would crush him even more.

Naruto walked over to them and fell to his knees beside Sakura. He began crying over her limp body. Sasuke didn't say anything, he really didn't know what to say. He wasn't the comforting type. So all he did was place a hand on his friends shoulder to tell him he was there. Naruto's heart wrenching sobs slowed once he felt Sasuke's hand on his shoulder. His sobs became silent ones, but the tears never ceased to flow.

Kakashi walked over. He said nothing. Just stared. Sasuke looked up at his ex-sensei to see his visible eye void of any emotion. All except for one tear that escaped from his eye and was soaked up in his mask.

"We need to get her back to Konoha." He said with a shaky, monotone voice.

Naruto nodded and whipped the tears away only for new ones too replace them. He placed an arm under her back and knees and lifted her up to his chest. He held her close as if he still didn't believe she was gone and wanted hold on to her to prevent her form leaving. It was then when he noticed she was wearing Sasuke's shirt. He looked up at Sasuke with pleading eyes. Sasuke had to look away.

"Please tell me she wasn't naked when you found her." He asked, his voice barely a whisper.

Sasuke just nodded.

"Tell me you killed that bastard." He growled.

Sasuke nodded again, fearing if he opened his mouth, he would vomit.

"Let's go. If we leave now and not rest, we could make it to Konoha in half a day." Kakashi said.

Naruto and Sasuke nodded and they sped off back to Konoha.

* * *

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi arrived at the Konoha hospital in only eight hours. Shizune was the first to meet them. She gasped when she saw Sakura lying limp in Naruto's arms.

Tears filled her eyes, "S-Sakura."

"Shizune, we need a room for Sakura and we need to see the Hokage." Kakashi said, emotionless.

Shizune seemed to snap out of the shock of seeing Sakura, "Oh, y-yes follow me."

She ran to an emergency room and had Naruto place her on the bed then she ran out to find Tsunade.

Only a few minutes later Tsunade came running through the doors, pushing everyone out of her way. Tsunade stared in shock at her apprentice lying before her. Tears began to well up as she slowly walked over to Sakura and placed a hand on her chest. Tsunade gasped.

"I want everyone out!" she yelled. "Shizune you stay."

"But Lady Tsunade, she's already-"

"Don't undermine my orders Shizune. I want everyone out." She growled.

Shizune turned to the others, "You can all wait outside the door in the waiting room."

"Tsunade! What the hell are you doing?! Is there a chance for Sakura? Can you bring her back?!" Naruto yelled as he was getting pushed out of the room by Shizune.

Once it was only Tsunade and Shizune in the room with Sakura, Tsunade turned to her ex-apprentice.

"Shizune, do you remember what I told you about Sakura?" she asked.

"Y-yes, of course I do. You said she had two souls. Sakura and Inner Sakura."

"Exactly!"

"What are you trying to say Lady Tsunade?"

"Come here. Put your hand to her chest and release some chakra inside her. Tell me what you feel." Tsunade said, stepping aside for Shizune.

Shizune did as she was told and her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face.

"Her soul!"

"Yes! When she was killed, her inner self must have taken over so she was the one to die, not Sakura! Sakura still has a soul!"

* * *

Sasuke stood in front of the emergency room doors, staring at it. He felt a slight pang of hope that maybe, just maybe, there might be a chance for Sakura. With a deep sigh, Sasuke pried his eyes away from the doors and went to go sit next to Naruto on the bench. For some reason, he found some form of comfort being next to his friend.

Sasuke looked over at Naruto. He had his head in his hands and a steady flow of tears falling onto the ground underneath him. He said nothing, just cried.

It was as though Naruto was showing all that Sasuke felt. Sasuke's eye became unfocused as he began to loose himself in his thoughts.

His world, for the second time in his life, came crashing down and he felt more pain at Sakura's death than he had when his whole clan was murdered. Memories kept flashing before his eyes of Sakura and how she would always be so affectionate, even when he was a compete jerk to her. She always cared and never gave up on him.

Then the memory of their last night together.

He saw the love and passion in her eyes. The way she held on to him tight in her sleep, smiling softly as she whispered his name. Her beautiful body. It was perfect.

Sasuke clenched his eyes shut as the image of her body became bruised and bloodied. He shook his head trying to erase the visual, but it had already burned a whole in his memory.

Sasuke's heart clenched painfully at the very thought of Sakura. Just the thought of her never knowing how he truly felt. Never knowing that he loved her. She was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. She was the one he wanted to bear his children and help him restore his clan. She was the one he loved more than life itself and felt empty and useless without.

"Sakura…" he whispered to himself.

* * *

Two hours later, the waiting room was full. Rookie 9, Gai's team, Sai, and Yamato were all there. News spreads quickly through the shinobi community.

It was completely silent. A few people were crying and others just stood with an unfocused stare.

The agonizing silence was broken when the doors to the emergency room opened and Tsunade walked out. Everyone looked up at her with pleading eyes, all fearing the same words they were afraid she would utter.

Tsunade sighed and wiped the sweat off her forehead, "She's alive."

The rooms spirits soured as everyone let their breaths go and smiled with relief. Some cried out happily, some kept their relief hidden, though couldn't be happier.

Naruto set down a blue Hinata he had just been hugging and turned to Tsunade.

"Can we see her?!" he asked, not even caring how she brought Sakura back from the dead, just caring that she did.

"Actually, she requested that I let her see Sasuke alone first. Then she can have visitors." She answered, glancing at the startled Uchiha.

Sasuke ignored the agitated stares he was getting and went straight for Sakura's room.

When he entered the room, he saw Sakura sitting up against her pillows. He stopped halfway to her bed, staring at her in shock. Just a few hours ago she was covered in blood and _**dead**_, now she was sitting up in bed _**alive! **_She had a few bandages on her arm and hand and a needle in her other hand replacing the blood she lost, though she was still extremely pale.

When Sakura heard the door close, she opened her eyes and turned to see who had come in. She smiled weakly once she saw who it was.

"Sasuke…" she whispered.

Sasuke walked over to her and took her hand. He didn't know what to say first.

"Sasuke, I'm sorry for what I said the day we fought-"

Sakura was cut off when Sasuke pressed his lips against hers, silencing her. Once he pulled away, she looked up at him with a mixture of confusion and love.

"Don't apologize Sakura. I jumped to conclusions." He whispered before leaning in for another passionate kiss. He licked her bottom lip, asking for permission to enter. She gave in instantly. Once they broke apart, Sasuke leaned his forehead against hers and looked her in the eyes.

"I love you." He whispered.

Sakura's eyes widened, "What?"

"You know I don't repeat myself." He said with a smirk as he cupped her cheek, kissing her lips gently.

She knew he hated repeating himself, but it didn't matter, she knew exactly what he had said. She smiled and kissed him deeply.

"I love you too."

* * *

Two weeks later Sakura was released from the hospital. Actually, she was_ kicked _out of the hospital. Tsunade and the other nurses kept walking in on Sakura and Sasuke… "restoring his clan". Today was just the final straw for the Hokage and she told Sakura to leave, saying if there was anything else wrong with her she could heal herself and gave her some friendly advice: Lock the door.

Sakura and Sasuke were walking down the street, hand in hand, heading to meet Naruto at Ichiraku's. Sasuke looked down at the pink haired kunoichi.

"How are you feeling?" he asked, noticing she was zoning out.

"Empty. I'm not used to silence in my head for this long." She answered. She had told him about her Inner self and how she was the one to die, not her. "I hate to say it, but I miss her."

"Hn."

"Sasuke, can I ask you something?"

"Hn?"

"Well, do you remember that night I stayed at your house because I gave you a concussion?"

"How could I not."

"Well, the next morning, I kinda, heard you in the shower."

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks and glared at her. Sakura ignored the glare and continued.

"I was just wondering, do you do it often?"

Sasuke began walking again, looking straight ahead, not able to meet her in the eyes.

"Hn."

"Oh well, you should do it more often. You have a great voice."

* * *

(A/N) HA! That was for all you pervs out there who thought Sasuke was jacking off in the shower!!

Well, that was my first fan fic and I must say I'm quite proud of it. It took me forever to write it though. I will write more. I've already come up with another SasuxSaku. I only know the ending, I just need to come up with an actual plot to get it there. It's gonna be kinda sad. The title will be **Now Is Forever**, so keep an eye out for it!!!

I really hope everyone enjoyed the story!!

Thank you all for reading!!

-Logical Lust


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